Benue PDP crisis deepens as Ortom, Ngbede trade accusations

As the crisis rocking the opposition Peoples Democratic Party in Benue State rages, the embattled party chairman, John Ngbede has advanced reasons the immediate past governor of the state, Samuel Ortom was suspended.

Speaking to journalists in his office at the party secretariat located along Otukpo road on Tuesday, Ngbede said that the former governor and his lieutenants wanted to take the party leadership by force.

He added that the former governor and his cronies were trying to take the party back to the old order where malpractices held sway.

While dismissing his suspension and that of his secretary and organising secretary, Ngbede said that only the national executive committee of the party could suspend him.

Ngbede said, “Ordinarily, our tenure expires on August, 4,  but we are waiting for the directive of the national secretariat. It’s only the state executive committee of the party that can suspend me by virtue of my position as a member of the national executive.

“It’s true that the former governor was suspended by the state working committee of the party because what we are saying is that we will not allow anyone who thinks he can take the leadership of the party by force.

“The party belongs to the people and that is what we want to do. We will not allow anyone to take us back to the old order where they will be hijacking voting materials. We should allow people to feel the impact of the congress.”

At the time journalists were at the party secretariat only the alleged suspended chairman, and the organising secretary were at the secretariat planning to hold a state executive committee meeting where the suspension of the former governor and three others may be ratified.

Meanwhile, the former governor, Samuel Ortom said that nobody could suspend him from the party.

The former governor who spoke through his media aide, Terver Akase said that any meeting held without him becomes null and void.

Akase said, “Ortom has not been suspended. He is the leader of the party in the state and any meeting that is called or going on without his consent is null.”

The former governor said that the embattled chairman of the party, Ngbede could not hold any meeting because he had been suspended for one month.

However, the former governor said that the party has a conflict resolution mechanism and as such advised the purported three suspended state officials to make themselves available before the panel already set up to investigate them.