Former Minister of Aviation, Femi Fani-Kayode has countered Governor Samuel Ortom of Benue State after he labelled his Bauchi State counterpart, Bala Mohammed, as a ‘terrorist governor’.
Governor Ortom had taken a swipe on Governor Mohammed, calling him a Fulani terrorist .
Ortom made the sweeping aspersion while addressing journalists at Government House in Makurdi on Monday.
Reacting to an earlier attack on him by Mohammed, the Benue governor wondered if the former Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, is among the armed Fulanis that want to kill him.
He said: “Some herdsmen wrote me a letter that they will kill me from the way and manner my brother and Governor of Bauchi spoke in support of herdsmen carrying arms, I suspect that he is one among the Fulani who wants to kill me and should anything happen to me they should not look far.”
He also wondered how a Governor who swore to protect lives and properties will openly support armed herdsmen from other African countries with the sole aim of killing Nigerians.
Ortom, thereafter, warned herdsmen who carry arms to go to Bauchi as thee is not place for them in Benue State.
Reacting to the aspersion, Mr. Fani-Kayode chided Governor Ortom for labelling Governor Mohammed with uncharitable names as terrorist governor.
In a series of tweets posted Monday night, Fani-Kayode noted that he could name at least two terrorist governors but never mention their names.
He wrote: “We must choose our battles wisely and know who our real enemies are.
“I have disagreed with my friend and brother, Gov. Bala Mohammed, on several occasions over the years and I do not share his views on a number of issues but to describe him as a terrorist is uncharitable and absurd.
This is a man who stands up for Southerners Middle Belters and Christians as much as he stands up for Northern Muslims.
“It is fair to say that had it not been for his efforts President Goodluck Jonathan may not have become President after President Yar’Adua died.
“His role in the Senate at that time in ensuring that the then Vice-President Goodluck Jonathan was declared Acting President was exemplary and inspiring.
“Bala may sometimes say things that many in the South disagree with but his spirit is clean and his mind is pure.
“He is not a racist, a religious bigot or a hegemonist and supremacist.
“He is not the one that leads a state in which Christians are being slaughtered or that ethnic minorities are being marginalised, humiliated and destroyed.
“If you are looking for a terrorist governor I can name one or two but Bala is not amongst them.
“He is a leading member of the PDP (Peoples Democratic Party) Ministers Forum, a group which I belong to, and I assure anyone that cares to listen that he is far more comfortable with indulging in an intellectual joust in which we can agree to disagree than in carrying guns, throwing bombs and killing people.
“It would serve our interest better if we learnt to separate the wheat from the chaff and stop demonising people simply because they do not share our views.
“To call Bala a terrorist is unacceptable and erroneous. I doubt that has ever killed a chicken let alone a human being,” he concluded.