The Governor of Benue State, Samuel Ortom says he is willing to sacrifice his senatorial bid for the victory of Peter Obi, the presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP) in the upcoming election.
Peter Obi, who has energised the Nigerian youths since he joined the race, is one of the three major candidates for the election. The others are Bola Tinubu of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and a former Vice President of Nigeria Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
The election will hold this Saturday, 25 February. Ortom, a member of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), is contesting for Benue’s northwest senatorial seat.
He is also part of a five-member group of PDP governors at loggerheads with the party’s national leadership.
Speaking to members of the Igbo community in Benue on Monday, Ortom said supporting the LP candidate ahead of the election is “an opportunity that should not be missed”.
“For me, it’s not even that I’m contesting an election. Yes, the form was bought for me by the people of Benue State. I’ve gone around, and they have accepted that they will vote for me,” he said.
“But if I’m to sacrifice my senatorial ambition for Peter Obi to win, so shall it be. I know that if [any group of] people are connected in this world, they are the Igbo. This is the opportunity to say that an Igbo man from the South East is president.
“So, let us not miss this opportunity that God himself is providing. The youth have told me, my own people have told me – stakeholders here, traditional rulers, party people across party lines. Obi’s matter is not about APC or PDP or SDP or any other party. It’s about Nigeria.
“That is why when I hear some prominent Igbo personalities castigating Peter Obi for contesting the election – is it not you people that have been saying you have been marginalised since after the war?
“The opportunity has come today and you’re still complaining. What do you want?! What are you looking for?
“The whole country – north, south, east, and west are saying Peter Obi and you hear some people say ‘We don’t want it’. Haba! Those people should be outcasts.”
This comes days after the Benue governor endorsed the presidential bid of Obi at a town hall meeting in Makurdi.
Ortom had cited the failure of the PDP and the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) to cater to the welfare of Nigerians as his reason for supporting Obi.
