Governor Samuel Ortom Ignores APC Amidst Party Leaders Move to Stop Defection

Governor Samuel Ortom of Benue State has ignored  the invitation of  the leadership of the All Progressives Congress (APC) for a meeting to reconcile him with his erstwhile godfather, Senator George Akume.

It will be recalled that Naija news  yesterday reported the Deputy National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (North), Sen. Lawal Shu’aibu has summoned Sen George Akume and Gov Samuel Ortom to an urgent meeting in Abuja over the tussle for leadership of the Benue chapter of the party.

Akume was, however, at the meeting presided over by the party’s Deputy National Chairman, Senator Lawal Shuaibu, who expressed hope that a solution would still be found to the crisis in spite of Ortom’s absence.

A close political associate of the governor who spoke in Abuja yesterday said that the governor was technically no longer a member of the APC and that many of his followers did not see the need for the meeting.

“I think Governor Samuel Ortom has made up his mind; he is technically no longer a member of APC; and many of his huge followers don’t see the need for the meeting; that is why he failed to attend the party’s invitation on Tuesday. Those who value him, politically, are already talking to him,’’ the source stated.

A hint of where Ortom might be headed appeared Tuesday as his posters with the crest of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) surfaced on the streets of Makurdi, the state capital.

However, Shuaibu who has been drafted to explore means of arresting the situation in the state said the meeting went well.He explain further that the party would not sit by and allow such dispute to tear its members in Benue State apart.