One
of the governors and All Progressives Congress chieftain, Ortom has
pledged his full support to President Buhari who is currently battling
with his health.
Benue State Governor, Dr. Samuel Ortom, has described President
Muhammadu Buhari as the medicine the nation needs to get over its myriad
of challenges precipitated by gruelling corruption.
Ortom told senior journalists in Abuja that the president is the
only one who has shown courage and boldness in confronting corruption
headlong while other leaders merely celebrated graft as part of
governance.
The governor said, “Buhari remains the medicine for Nigeria.
Despite his age, he is willing to add value, instil discipline and wipe
away corruption in Nigeria.
“Before him, nobody was bold enough to confront corruption. It
is good for Nigerians to pray for him. For us in Benue we have declared
three days fast for Buhari for his quick recovery so that he can come
back to work for us.
“We have no business with poverty in Nigeria but indiscipline
and corruption have combined to keep us down. We need Buhari to take us
to the Promised Land,” Ortom said.
Giving details of the anti-grazing bill, which the Benue State
House of Assembly recently passed into law, the governor explained that
it was meant to end the incessant violent confrontations between farmers
and herdsmen in the state and create wealth for all.
Ortom made it clear that while the herdsmen had the right to
produce cattle and sell meat for economic survival, Benue State farmers
also have the inalienable right to tend their land and sell the crops
for living.
According to him, the bill does not in any way amount to asking the
Fulani herdsmen to quit Benue State but to make them to put their
cattle in ranges and conduct their business with some level of control
and safety for their lives and others in the state.
He said, “We in Benue State have a job to do and we will certainly
do it. The anti-grazing bill does not say herdsmen should use gun and
kill people. We are not sending any herdsmen away from Benue but they
must ranch their cattle under the law.
“The ranching bill is meant to protect both the farmer and the
herdsman. I challenge anyone against the bill to give me a better
alternative to the current challenge we have on our hands.
I like superior arguments and if there is any on the matter, I
would quickly adjust, he said. The governor accused the most wanted
militia in the state, Terwase Akwaza, aka Gana, as an agent of the Boko
Haram terrorists working to bring down the state, after killing his
Special Adviser on Security, Denen Igbana.
Ortom said, “Gana is linked with Boko Haram terrorists to
destroy and maim people in Benue. He initially accepted our amnesty and
pleaded with us to allow him to bring in other members of his deadly
gang under his control.
“He surrendered 87 guns that day and extended his amnesty for
another one month. To rehabilitate the boys, we gave him contract to do
for the state. But he wasn’t sincere as he went back into crimes.
“He killed my SA in charge of Security and since having been
fingered for heinous crimes and being declared wanted by the Police
headquarters in Abuja, he has been fighting us using his large
followership. Only a God is helping us. If we had not identified this
man as a terrorist, he would have overrun us.”
On his alleged feud with the Rivers State Governor, Ortom declined to comment further on any matter relating to Wike. “We
don’t want to join issues with Wike because I am a Christian. I have no
issue against him and we were both ministers under Jonathan and we know
ourselves,” the governor said.
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