Benue State Governor, Samuel Ortom, has reaffirmed his commitment to repositioning the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the North Central and at the national level, to clinch power from the All Progressives Congress (APC) in 2023.
The Governor, who made the declaration at the Government House, while speaking with newsmen, said PDP would re-strategise and look at areas that made it lose to the APC in 2015.
He said: “I am not competely happy, being the only PDP governor in the North Central. I want more states in the zone. I want PDP to control the Federal Government and if we are in control, we will have appointments, as head of agencies, representations and more projects will come to Benue State…”
On defections, Ortom said he was not perturbed that some prominent politicians had defected to APC, as most of the defectors were those that failed to win election in their various parties in their localities.
“Check the records of those who defected. Check whether they won one vote in their areas… Tell me a notable PDP member that has defected to another party. It is just a mischief. But very soon, you will see what I will do. We are on top of the situation. There is no cause for alarm,” he said.
Commenting on Miyetti Allah Kautal Hore’s vow to forcefully introduce their vigilance group in the state, Ortom vowed to deny them entry, insisting that he would jail them, “if they attempt to infiltrate the state.”
He said: “They can’t come here, as long as I am the governor. There is no room for them in the state. When I confronted them, they said they wanted to use Vigilante Group of Nigeria. That one will not operate here. We have our own group. We have community policing and Livestock Guards to take care of herdsmen, with active support of security agencies in the state.
“So, no single vigilante group from Miyetti Allah will come to make noise here. In Benue, we believe in the rule of law.”