Why I Allowed My Vehicle to Convey Obi in Benue — Ortom
Former Benue State Governor Samuel Ortom has defended his decision to make his vehicle available to Peter Obi during the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC) presidential candidate’s visit to the state, saying there was nothing political or unusual about the gesture.
The former governor said it would have been petty and undignified for him to refuse assistance to Obi, a former governor and presidential candidate who was in Benue on what he described as a humanitarian mission.
Ortom’s position was made known through his media aide, Terver Akase, in response to claims by the administration of Governor Hyacinth Alia that the former governor facilitated Obi’s visit to Benue.
Obi was in Makurdi on Tuesday and had planned to travel to Yelwata in Guma Local Government Area to sympathise with families and residents affected by the deadly attacks in the community.
His visit, however, was cut short after youths blocked his convoy around Gyado Villa, a few kilometres from the airport, forcing him to return to Makurdi Airport.
The incident later became a subject of political controversy after the Benue State Government linked a vehicle used by Obi to Ortom.
Governor Alia’s Chief Press Secretary, Kula Tersoo, had said preliminary findings from an investigation by the state government showed that the Toyota Land Cruiser used to convey Obi from the airport was registered in Ortom’s name.
Tersoo said the vehicle, with registration number ABUJA: GWA 608 BT, was linked to the former governor through Federal Road Safety Corps records.
The governor’s aide then questioned why Ortom, who had publicly declared support for President Bola Tinubu ahead of the 2027 election, would make his vehicle available to Obi, who is seeking the presidency on the platform of the NDC.
Responding to the allegation, Ortom dismissed the controversy as unnecessary, arguing that providing transportation to a fellow political leader was simply an act of courtesy.
He said Obi’s status as a former governor and presidential candidate made the gesture even more reasonable, particularly because his visit was intended to take him to victims of violence in Benue.
Ortom said, “Peter Obi is a former governor, a presidential candidate and one of the most prominent political figures in the country. Imagine how it would have sounded if Chief Ortom had refused to assist him with transportation while he was in Benue on a humanitarian mission to visit internally displaced persons.”
According to him, declining to help Obi would have portrayed him as petty and inhospitable.
“Such a refusal would rightly have been viewed as petty, inhospitable and beneath the dignity of a former governor,” he said.
Ortom also argued that the Benue State Government itself should ordinarily have provided the necessary assistance to a former governor and presidential candidate visiting the state.
“Indeed, extending such a courtesy should ordinarily have been the responsibility of the Benue State Government itself, given the status of the visitor,” he said.
He accused the Alia administration of turning an ordinary gesture of hospitality into a political issue.
“That the Alia administration is now trying to make a controversy out of what was merely a humane, courteous and statesmanlike gesture exposes the poverty of its argument and the desperation behind its propaganda,” Ortom said.
He added, “In other climes, leaders are commended for extending courtesies across political divides, not vilified for doing so.”
Ortom described the attempt to portray the provision of his vehicle as evidence of political wrongdoing as “intellectually dishonest and politically immature.”
The former governor also rejected allegations that he was secretly working for Obi despite publicly backing Tinubu for the 2027 presidential election.
He described the claim that he was being “double-faced” as “laughable”, insisting that his political positions had always been made publicly.
Ortom acknowledged that he supported Obi during the 2023 presidential election but said his position had since changed.
According to him, he has now declared his support for President Tinubu for the 2027 election and has not hidden that decision.
The vehicle controversy came amid the wider dispute over Obi’s aborted visit to Yelwata.
The NDC candidate had travelled to Benue to sympathise with people affected by the violence in the community, but his convoy was stopped before he could reach the area.
The Benue State Police Commissioner, Cletus Nwadiogbu, later explained that the NDC had notified the police command about Obi’s planned visit.
Nwadiogbu said the notification was intended to enable the police to make adequate security arrangements and that the NDC did not ask him to forward the letter to Governor Alia.
He said the command’s responsibility was to provide security for Obi during his movement in the state.
The police subsequently arrested 46 people allegedly connected to the incident, while investigations into the circumstances surrounding the blockade continued.
