Governor Samuel Ortom says he won’t impose his preferred presidential candidate on members of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Benue State.
The governor also said contrary to a viral report, he has not endorsed his party’s flag bearer, Atiku Abubakar.
Ortom, in a statement on Tuesday by his media aide, Terver Akase, said the report was targeted at embarrassing the five governors of the PDP known as the G5 “who have chosen the path of justice, fairness and equity”.
“When the Governor met with the expanded state caucus of PDP yesterday January 9, 2023 at the Benue Peoples House, Makurdi, his message to them was crystal clear that the national leadership of PDP has failed to utilize its internal conflict resolution mechanism which has led to the crisis rocking the party,” the statement read.
“The Governor said during the meeting that if the crisis is not resolved before the elections, he would be left with no other option than to take a stand on the matter.
“He (Ortom) added however that he wouldn’t impose his decision on members of the party in the state.”
For months, the G5 has been at loggerheads with Atiku and Iyorchia Ayu over the chairmanship of the latter. The five dissatisfied governors want Ayu to step down for a southerner as a precondition to support Atiku’s decade-long ambition in the February 25 presidential election. But Ayu has insisted that he would only resign after his four-year constitutional term.