Benue State Governor Samuel Ortom declared on Saturday that the next President of Nigeria should ‘rightfully’ come from the South.
Ortom is one of the five disgruntled governors in the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), sometimes known as the G5. The governors and their colleagues have failed to reach a deal with the party’s presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar. Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar is from Adamawa State in northeastern Nigeria.
During a governorship rally in Rivers State, Ortom stated that his host, Governor Nyesom Wike, should have succeeded President Muhammadu Buhari in 2023.
“Your son from Rivers State contested (in the PDP presidential primary election in May) and it was said that he lost. But some of us believed that he was the right person to unite, bring us together and ensure justice, fairness and equity for Nigerians.
“I want Rivers State people to work with our governor, Governor Wike, and at the end of the day, just like the G5, we will decide what we are going to do because Nigeria today is in turmoil and it is only when we do the best that we can get out of our challenges,” Ortom said.
With regard to the 2023 election, the frontline presidential candidate of Southern extraction is Peter Obi of the Labour Party. Obi, a former governor of Anambra State, has visited Ortom in Benue State severally since the PDP crisis started in May.