Governor Samuel Ortom of Benue State yesterday said it was ex- Governor George Akume that gave him red card and not the All Progressives Congress (APC).
Speaking with journalists after a meeting with APC National Chairman, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole, Ortom said the national leadership of the party had assured him that any decision taken by them was superior to the one at the state level.
This position had slightly changed the narrative that Ortom had finally left the APC. Akume, seen as the leader of APC in Benue State was greatly instrumental to Ortom’s emergence as governor in 2015. The duo had since parted ways amidst speculations that Akume had preference for another person ahead of 2019.
Ortom told journalists at the APC secretariat in Abuja that the famous red card he spoke about on Monday was given to him by Senator George Akume.
Ortom had said, “I was given red card by Senator Akume who is the leader of the party in Benue State and I took it as I was serious enough to make myself available after the hitch.
“But the leadership of the party told me that the decision of the party leadership at the national level is superior to any individual’s; and I think that is good enough. We have spoken to him, he has spoken to me, stakeholders are going to be spoken to and that is where I belong.
“We have not concluded the matter, it is an ongoing process because I have always stood for peace and I always want peace to prevail.
“I appreciate the intervention and I hope that we would be able to resolve the matter of differences and this is the funny thing about politics,” Ortom said.
Asked to reveal his position on the PDP’s moves to woo him into their fold, Ortom said, “I am here in APC, a member of APC, I’m still flying the flag of APC and I only said I was given red card and I’ve been corrected by the national secretariat….”
