As the crisis rocking the People Democratic Party (PDP) in Benue State deepens, the state’s former governor, Samuel Ortom, and the party chairman, John Ngbede, have continued to trade words after the former governor was suspended from the party.
Addressing journalists on Tuesday in Makurdi, the Benue State capital, the party chairman criticised the former governor and his allies for trying to take the party’s leadership in the state by force without following the procedure laid down by the national executive council.
The chairman claimed that the governor and his men are trying to take the party’s leadership to the era of malpractices, which was dominant in the past administration.
The party chairman claimed that it is the only party national executive that can suspend him and his secretary.
He explained that, according to the party’s constitution, his tenure will expire on August 4th. He noted that the state party executive was waiting for the national executive’s directive on the next step before vacating the office. He also explained that his position as a member of the national executive branch has made the state unspendable.
He told journalists that the state working committed has decided to suspend the former governor of the state to stop every act that will push the state executives out of the office by force. According to him, the party belongs to the people, and the old days of hijacking every position were over; he noted that the party members would feel the impact of the Congress.
Meanwhile, Chief Samuel Ortom, in his response to the suspension, noted that no party executive could suspend him from the party in the state.
Chief Ortom, through his media, Terver Akase, explained that the former governor remains the party leader and that any meeting held without his presence is null and void.
He noted that the party’s chairman who initiated the suspension had been suspended from the party for one and could not hold any meeting in the state henceforth.
He explained that according to the party’s conflict mechanism, the suspended executives should make themselves available before the panel for queries and possible explanations.
During the journalist’s visit to the party’s state secretariat, only the party state secretary and the chairman were present; they were reportedly planning to hold an executive meeting in the state.
On Monday, a 13-man SWC suspended the current State Chairman, Secretary, and Organizing Secretary of the party for one month for misconduct and asked them to appear before a disciplinary committee set up by the party.
The state executives responded by suspending the party leader, Samuel Ortom, who blamed the former governor for masterminding the suspension of the SWC member.
They claimed that the former governor’s aggression is reflected in the fact that the majority of the members were allowed to participate in the recently held ward congresses, noting that corruption was not allowed to dominate the process.
Until press time, the national executive had not made a statement regarding the recent crisis, but Ngbede maintains that only the national executive could suspend him.
