Benue State Governor Samuel Ortom has reaffirmed his support for his counterpart in Rivers State, Nyesom Wike, claiming that the PDP leadership has not been fair to the governor.
Insinuations in some media reports (not by Channels Television) that Ortom has split from Wike’s camp as calls for the resignation of PDP Chairman Iyorchia Ayu become louder were also denied by Ortom as a hoax.
Both Ortom and Ayu are from the northern Nigerian state of Benue, and the former has admitted that he worked for the latter to hold the position.
However, since Atiku Abubakar (an Adamawa State resident) won the PDP presidential primaries in May, Wike and some other current and former governors of the party have pushed for Ayu to step down and make way for a southerner.
They contended that northerners cannot hold both jobs and cited Ayu’s pre-primary pledge to quit if one of them won the party’s nomination for president. As a result of the issue and Ayu’s insistence that he won’t resign until after his four-year tenure, the party has been ripped apart.
But Ortom said in a statement on Tuesday that “there is no leaving our group. I still feel sorry for Wike because of the unfair treatment he and our group received.”
Nathaniel Ikyur, the governor’s chief press secretary, signed the statement.
Part of the statement reads, “I just came back from London this morning with Wike, and I still maintain my stand on what I said. I haven’t left that place yet. Based on the events that occurred both during and after the convention, the party leadership has not been fair to Governor Wike.”
