PDP will return to power in Benue, boasts ex-gov Ortom

The immediate past governor of Benue State, Samuel Ortom, has said that the opposition Peoples Democratic Party will ensure that it takes over power from the ruling All Progressive Congress in 2027.

Addressing members of G14 who paid him a courtesy visit at his Makurdi residence located at Judges Quarters along Gboko Road on Tuesday, Ortom charged the group to work harder to ensure that the party in the state bounced back stronger.

He appealed to the members to put behind them the crisis that denied the party victory in the 2023 election in the state.

The G14 comprises elders of the PDP from the 14 local government areas of Tiv extraction.

A former governor of the state, Gabriel Suswam, who co-founded the G14 in 2015, had last week announced that the group had been disbanded due to their perceived romance with Ortom.

But in a swift reaction, the chairman of the group, Laha Dzever, at the weekend said that no one could disband the group and advised the former governor to resign his membership if he so desired.

Receiving the group at his residence, Ortom, who has assumed the role of co-chairman of the group, said that no one has the power to disband the group.

Ortom said, “As the leader of the party in the state, I will continue to support the group, and let me emphasise that no one has a right to disband this group.

“I encourage you to work and be conscience of the party. Let us put behind us the past grievances. This is the time you have to work harder than before and bring back some of those who want to join us.

“I know that many people are yearning to return to the party, let us begin a new journey, and with God’s on our side, we will get the power back to our party in 2027.”

The former governor admonished the people to continue to support their leaders at the national level, adding that both the ward and local government congresses earlier conducted in the state had been approved by the National Working Committee of the party.