Benue State Governor, Samuel Ortom, has boasted that the opposition Peoples Democratic Party will form the government at the national level come 2023.
Speaking at a meeting with the party’s governorship aspirants at the Government House, Makurdi, on Monday, the governor said when the PDP reclaims power, it would continue from where it left governance in 2015.
Ortom declared that the PDP had ample opportunity to return to power with the abysmal performance of the All Progressives Congress government.
He explained that Nigerians were fed up with the APC, the party he said came to power through deceit, propaganda and lies.
He said, “I want to assure you that by the grace of God, the PDP is going to take over the mantle of leadership at the national level, because clearly from what we are seeing in Nigeria today, the APC has become a failure.
“They came on the platform of deceit, lies and propaganda. It takes two to tango. People saw what the PDP was able to do and today, they have seen what the APC is doing.
“What was the PDP doing – security of lives and property, economic development, reduction in unemployment and ensuring free movement in Nigeria.
“Today, under the leadership of the APC, what are we seeing? Economically, the dollar used to be N190, but it is now being sold for N590. We used to hear of Boko Haram in Borno, but today, Boko Haram is in Benue State; it is in the North-Central, South-South, South-West, South-East and even worst in the North-West.
“Today, some states in the North-East are being controlled by Boko Haram. Why did I say this? The governors themselves have confirmed this. Even in the North-Central, there are some states that are controlled by Boko Haram. It wasn’t so in 2015 when the APC took over.
“So, are we going to continue in this manner? Do we want to be Afghanistan? Do we want Afghanistan to extend its frontiers to Nigeria? Our country is gradually subjecting itself and giving itself to terrorists and surrendering to terrorists.”
He added, “If parts of the North-East have been conquered by terrorists and parts of the North-West have been conquered by terrorists, and even now as we hear, some parts of the North-Central have been conquered by terrorists, are we going to allow it to come to Benue State?
“You people should tell me, because I’m your governor; if you want me to surrender to terrorists, I will do it.”
Ortom observed that the open grazing being canvassed by the Federal Government was a camouflage.
He stated, “It is a lie; it is a programme designed in the international Fulani world to take over and seize our land, manipulate us and make us slaves.
“We are looking for when the PDP will continue from where it stopped in 2015 and provide leadership for economic growth and take possession of employment and reduce unemployment in our country.”
The governor argued that the treaty signed by the APC government in 2021 to allow free trade and movement was a wrong step, saying that it would only make Nigeria a dumping ground.
“I was the minister of Industry, Trade and Investment under Goodluck Jonathan; I attended meetings in Ghana, in Germany and other parts of the world. They persuaded us and we said no, we were not going to sign, because as Nigerians with a population of over 200 million, signing that agreement would mean other smaller countries would dump their products on Nigeria,” Ortom added.
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