The Peoples Democratic Party has alleged that the scenario at the Makurdi Airforce base where Benue State Governor, Samuel Ortom, was denied entry when he (Ortom) went to receive Vice President Yemi Osinbajo during the weekend was allegedly aimed at undermining the governor’s security.
This was contained in a statement on Tuesday signed by the PDP National Publicity Secretary, Hon. Debo Ologunagba, and titled, ‘PDP Condemns Gov. Ortom’s Harassment at Makurdi Airforce Base’.
The main opposition party spokesperson described the scenario as part of the ‘unrelenting onslaught of the Buhari-led All Progressives Congress government against Governor Samuel Ortom’.
According to him, the action is another vicious attempt by the APC to embarrass, harass, unsettle Governor Ortom and sustain the terrorization of the people of Benue State in the desperation to sequester their constitutional and ancestral heritage.
The statement read in part, “The Buhari Presidency cannot deny involvement in this pre-meditated and provocative act because all arms of the Armed Forces, including the Airforce are under the authority and control of the Commander-in-Chief, who is the head of the Executive arm to which the Vice President also belongs.
“Such orchestrated action against a democratically elected governor of a state by an organ of the Federal Government which is directly under the control of the Commander-in-Chief is, to say the least reprehensible. It is an unpardonable assault on our democracy, national unity, and peaceful co-existence in our country.
“It is obvious that this assault on Governor Ortom is because he has become a thorn in the flesh for the Buhari-led administration given his principled stand on the inhuman and life-discounting stance of the APC administration against the people of Benue State, particularly its failure to protect them from mass killing by marauders, terrorists, and known assailants as well as the ill-treatment to internally displaced persons in Benue State.
“The public can also recall the several attempts made on Governor Ortom’s life which remain unresolved despite assurances by the Federal Government to bring the culprits to book.
“Moreover, there are already apprehensions in Benue State that locking Governor Ortom out of the Airforce Base was ostensibly a plot to undermine security around the governor, orchestrate restiveness, place him in harm’s way and blame the outcome on hoodlums.”
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