Benue State Governor, Samuel Ortom has blamed Southern Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, stakeholders and governors for the inability of the party to zone its presidential ticket to the South.
Atiku Abubakar, a former vice president is the current president candidate of the party. Atiku is from the North Central geopolitical zone.
Speaking in an interview with Daily Sun on why the PDP governors did not help Peter Obi before he left the party to secure the ticket, Ortom said that the Southern people betrayed the zoning of the ticket to the South.
He said: “You see, I don’t like talking about other governors. There are dynamics in politics – dynamics in various states. I talk about my own state, I talk about my personality. I believe in equity, fairness and justice.
“When I made a pronouncement that I was supporting the South, there was a reason for it. And, I said look, for equity, fairness and justice that I am preaching, which will translate to development, support and help our people, I said something. After eight years rule of the North, the presidency should go to the South. Unfortunately, the southern people themselves, whether Igbo or South-South or Southwest, betrayed it. They betrayed it. Shame to them”
Ortom who refused to mention the names the actors said that they included governors and other party stakeholders.
According to him: “Why should I name the actors? Are you not aware? Name them. I don’t want to talk about that. Governors, stakeholders and all that, because of their personal interest, look, they will one day die. Nobody will live forever. What will live forever is the legacies we leave; the institutions that we are able to build.
“Our capacity to work and make things work beyond our life in this world, that is what will matter. Globally, where countries have made milestones and have developed, it is because people who were there laid the foundation that others came and built on it and, today, those countries are thriving. Those people are not alive. So, you work beyond your stay on this earth. That is what some of us believe and that thing is only anchored on equity, fairness and justice. If you do that, you can never be wrong. That is what some of us believe and I hope that people will look at this and jealously be guided to ensure that we provide equity, fairness and justice for our people.
On the PDP transforming into a Northern party, he said “Some of us don’t believe in having a northern party. PDP should be a national party. We have been president from Obasanjo to Goodluck Jonathan and we should maintain our status as a national party. This is something that even some of us are concerned about.
“We have raised it and the leadership of the party is going to meet and discuss the matter. There is no way you can have a BoT Chairman from the North, a national chairman who is from the North and a presidential candidate who is from the North. Something has to be done before the election to give confidence to Nigerians that we are looking beyond that. We can do something to support others. And so, it is not out of place.
“The leadership of the party will definitely meet. After the primaries, everybody went on vacation. I didn’t go on vacation, I went on assignment, but, I am back. So, we can meet and look at those issues. What can we do to make things work, to make some adjustments? All that we are interested in is to ensure that we rescue Nigeria from where it is – from top to bottom.
“My challenge has been that we are not just at the bottom. If we are at the bottom, it is okay; we can move from there. But, we are going to the grave! We are going beneath the bottom. So, we are going to the grave. My take on the matter is that I agree that there is no way we can’t balance it. How can we have a national chairman, Board of Trustees chairman and a presidential candidate from the North? That thing will not work. It will not send a good signal to Nigerians.
“Something has to be done and I believe that the leadership of the party is also ready to sit and dialogue and see what they can do to give confidence to Nigeria”.
