Benue State Governor Samuel Ortom has described media reports that he broke away from Wike as false and misleading news, stating that he will continue to stand with the Rivers State governor.
This coming after some news outlets reported that Ortom has distanced himself from those calling for the removal of Iyorchia Ayu as the national chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party, saying it is impossible for him to advocate the removal of someone he helped to appoint.
Reacting to the report on Tuesday the governor said, “the news report that I disassociated from Governor Wike is misleading. I just came back from London this morning with Wike and I still maintain my stand on what I said. I have not moved away from there. I still sympathize with Wike for the injustices meted out to him and our group.
Speaking further Ortom noted that “the party leadership has not been fair to Governor Wike based on the activities that took place during the convention and after the convention.
“They have not been able to adequately deploy the internal conflict resolution mechanism of the party to resolve those issues.
“I still sympathize and stand with Wike and let the leadership of the party at the national level do the right thing. It is not too late to do so.
The governor added that, “Politics is about interest, and where your interest is not protected, you have the right to protest. We remain committed to the PDP but still want the right thing to be done so that everybody will be carried along.
“On the issue in contention about the National Chairman, the BoT, was here some few days ago and we deliberated on the matter. They sought to know what my feeling was about the crisis and I told them the truth as far as I am concerned.
“I gave them my recommendations and I hope that justice will be done so that our party will gain its position to take over power in 2023,” he said.