PDP’s electoral chances not under threat in Benue, says Ortom

Governor Samuel Ortom has told House of Representatives member, Mark Gbillah, that he had no capacity to threaten the chances of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Benue State at the 2023 general elections.

Gbillah, last week, in Abuja, was reported to have accused the governor of standing in his way to return to the lower legislative chamber at the 2023 general elections.

He had reportedly also said Ortom and his aides were working with critical stakeholders to frustrate his victory at the poll.

But the governor, in a statement by his Chief Press Secretary, Nathaniel Ikyur, recalled how Gbillah had embarked on a nomadic political voyage from the All Progressives Congress (APC) to PDP, New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP) and now Labour Party (LP) to remain in the political turf.

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) recently published Gbillah as NNPP and LP candidate for the 2023 National Assembly elections.

The statement reads: “Gbillah has displayed political immaturity by his actions. So, he should lick the wounds he inflicted on himself for his greed and inconsistencies. He should leave Governor Ortom out of his predicament”.

“This is someone who has been in the House of Representatives for eight years even against the wish of the stakeholders in his constituency. In his bid to go for a third term, political leaders from his local government rejected him. It was not Governor Ortom who rejected him, so he should stop looking for whom to blame.

“Out of greed, Gbillah began a nomadic quest for electoral placement going from PDP to NNPP and now he claims to be the candidate of LP. What is this desperation that he is running here and there looking for whom to blame?

“It is not Governor Ortom, who caused INEC to publish his name as a candidate for the 2023 National Assembly elections on two different political parties. Gbillah is a lawmaker, who should know that it is fraud and, indeed, contravenes the Electoral Act. He cannot fool anybody. Let him bear the consequences of his inordinate ambition.

“The public should not be swayed by the desperation of the drowning lawmaker whose immediate constituency rejected. Let it also be known to all that PDP in Benue is solid and will be victorious in the forthcoming elections. Not a thousand Gbillahs can threaten the PDP.”