Benue Shockwave: Ortom Rejects Claims of PDP Candidate Swap!
The immediate past governor of Benue State, Samuel Ortom, and Dr. Pius Akutah have vehemently denied a report claiming a plot to replace the PDP governorship candidate, Michael Aondoakaa, with Akutah. Both stated that a recent meeting of Benue stakeholders was for strategic alliance-building, not for discussing a change in candidacy, labeling the report as false and malicious.
A recent report alleging that the Benue chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) was plotting to replace its governorship candidate, Chief Michael Kaase Aondoakaa (SAN), with the executive secretary of the Nigerian Shippers’ Council, Dr. Pius Akutah, has been emphatically dismissed by key figures involved. Both the immediate past governor of Benue State, Samuel Ortom, and Dr. Pius Ukeyima Akutah have issued strong denials, branding the report as false and misleading.
Former Governor Samuel Ortom, through a statement released by his media aide, Zege Paul Terhide, on Friday, unequivocally stated that the report was a "false, misleading and a deliberate distortion of the facts." Ortom clarified that he, alongside the Senate Minority Leader, Senator Patrick Abba Moro, and the PDP governorship candidate, Chief Michael Kaase Aondoakaa, SAN, had indeed met with several prominent Benue sons. These included Chief Simon Shango, Prof. Iyorwuese Hagher, Dr. Pius Akutah himself, Engr. Emmanuel Ameh, and Dr. Matthias Byuan.
However, Ortom stressed that the purpose of this high-level gathering was purely for "ongoing consultations and engagements aimed at building a broad strategic alliance of Benue stakeholders for the greater good of the state." He firmly asserted, "At no time during the meeting was the replacement of Chief Aondoakaa as the PDP governorship candidate discussed, contemplated or placed on the agenda."
Corroborating Ortom's stance, Dr. Pius Ukeyima Akutah also issued a separate statement denying any involvement in alleged secret talks regarding the PDP governorship ticket. His principal private adviser, Comrade Atir Solomon Faeren, conveyed Akutah's dismissal of the report, which was attributed to an anonymous online platform, as "false, malicious and unverified." This dual denial from both Ortom and Akutah effectively refutes the claims of any clandestine plans to alter the party's governorship candidacy in Benue State.