Governor Samuel Ortom of Benue State on Wednesday said that Atiku Abubakar, presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), must publicly apologise for “lying” against him recently during his outing in Kaduna State.
POLITICS NIGERIA reports that Ortom demanded the apology when three council chairmen of Jemgba ethnic group led youths of their Local Government Areas (LGAs) to the Government House in Makurdi.
The governor threatened that Atiku will lose massive votes in Benue State if he fails to publicly apologise for ‘committing sacrilege’ against Benue indigenes.
“We vehemently condemn the statement against me. When it got to me, I protested to him (Atiku) through a WhatsApp message. He apologised but declined to make it public,” Ortom said.
“Atiku must apologise. He (Atiku) lied against me and I take exception.
“He must do a retraction if he wants our votes. If he does not do it, on the day of election, we will vote according to the election.
“We cannot vote for that kind of person. We were ravaged by flood. Did you see Atiku here? Since 2017 when our people were in IDP camp, did you see Atiku here?
“You have committed sacrilege against the people of Benue and if you want us to remain in the same party, you must apologise to us.”
Atiku does not need our votes from Benue State and by extension from the Middle Belt. We won’t vote for a Fulani jihadist. Like Mr. Ortom has rightly said, Mr. Atiku has never associated himself with Benue, Plateau, Taraba and Southern Kaduna people. Like Tinubu, he thinks Fulani votes alone will be sufficient. For us, only God is sufficient.