Benue State Governor, Samuel Ortom, has shunned the campaign rally of the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar.
Also, absent at the Atiku’s rally were the deputy governor, Benson Abounu, commissioners, aides, and the 22 local government chairmen of the state.
Benue is being controlled by PDP with the national chairman of the party, Senator Iyorchia Ayu, hailing from the state.
Leading the campaign rally for Atiku in the state are the former governor of the state, Senator Gabriel Suswam, former president of the Senate, David Mark, and the three senators representing Zone A, B, and C; Suswam, Orker Jev, and Abba Moro, were in attendance.
Also, the party governorship candidate and his deputy, Titus Uba, and John Ngbede, respectively, and some state working committee members attended the rally.
Speaking at the rally, Ayu appealed to Ortom, who had not shown support for Atiku, to join hands with the party to be able to rescue the country.
Ayu said that he met with one of the G-5 governors, the Abia State Governor, Okezie Ikpeazu, two days ago and also urged him to work with them.
The PDP chairman said, “What we have is some of our members who are aggrieved but we are appealing to Governor Ortom to come back and join us to rescue the country. Governor Ortom has nowhere to go. We have already resolved our issue with Governor of Abia State, Okezie Ikpeazu. I was with him two days ago and he has agreed to work for the success of our party.”
Atiku, while speaking with the mammoth crowd at the rally, promised to ensure that the crisis between the people of the state and Fulani herders would be resolved if voted into office.
He said, “I am the umbrella of Tiv people worldwide. If you vote for me, I will make sure peace return to Benue State. I will come to the state and make sure Fulani signs a peace pact with the people of the state.”