By Amos Aar
THE PEOPLES Democratic Party (PDP) in Benue State under the leadership of the immediate past governor of the state, Samuel Ortom, on Wednesday flagged off its electioneering campaigns for local government elections coming up on Saturday, October 5, 2024.
The event held at the main PDP secretariat, Makurdi even as Ortom had raised alarm severally that a former governor of the state and his immediate predecessor, Senator Gabriel Suswam, locked the secretariat against his faction, propelling him to turn his Oracle Business Centre located on Katsina-Ala Street, Makurdi into an office for his loyalists
While Suswam and his loyalists were conspicuously absent during the flag-off of the campaigns at the state secretariat, Ortom and the senator representing Benue South, Patrick Abba Moro, were on ground.
In his goodwill message, Ortom said PDP is fully on ground and expressed optimism that the party will win all chairmanship and councillorship positions on Saturday. He however stated that if PDP is denied victory unjustly, the party will go to court to challenge the process and reclaim its mandate.
Ortom also tasked youths on peace and orderliness during the campaigns, at the polls and afterwards, saying “don’t allow yourselves to be used as agents of destabilization but work for the unity of our great party”.
On his part, Senator Moro promised to stand by the PDP to win all positions at the Saturday polls and encouraged members to come out en masse to cast their votes, assuring that it is going to be “election not selection” as assured by the Benue State Independent Electoral Commission (BSIEC).
Presenting flags of authority to chairmanship, deputy chairmanship and councillorship candidates, state caretaker committee chairman of the party, Sen. Napoleon Bali, represented by the caretaker secretary, Hon. Osita Ogene, wished the flag bearers success and charged them to bring home victory at the Saturday polls.
In their separate goodwill messages, Engr Dondo Ahire, Mike Ubah and Alex Ogaba who spoke for Benue zones A, B and C were unanimous in their call for unity within the party to be able to win elections.
