GOVERNOR SAMUEL ORTOM of Benue State, told journalist at a news conference, in Makurdi, Benue State, on Saturday, that he was confident that, his party, the opposition Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, is waxing stronger and would, overwhelmingly, win Nigeria’s 2023 presidential election, and return to power.
Ortom said the geopolitical zone where the next president will come from in 2023, is not what Nigerians are concerned about. Nigerians are clamouring for competent hands to lead the country. And his party the PDP, was ready to yield to the demand of Nigerians, to be led by the best hands that would turn around the fortunes of the country and improve their living condition.
His words: “PDP as a party made mistakes in the past and has learnt a lot of lessons from its mistakes and it is fully prepared to take over the leadership of the country from the APC. Nobody should deceive you that PDP is polarized. We are working together as a party.
“We met and agreed that the positions which are currently in the North should go to the South, while those in the South should go to the North. This is the resolution of the Zoning Committee and it is graciously accepted at the national level. Nobody has begrudged the decision. It is widely accepted by all PDP members”, Ortom stated.
ZONING POLITICAL OFFICES, he said, is good, but it is driven by the marginalization of people, and the level of poverty among the people. “Some people tend to believe that if you zone a position to their place, they may have the opportunity of getting their own share of the cake”.
After twenty years of the present political dispensation in the county, Ortom said “some of us are also looking at where we will look for credibility with the objective of trying to get somebody who will lead us at the party level and even at the presidential level.
“If you listen very well to what Nigerians are saying you will understand me. Nigerians are saying that zoning is not the problem of Nigeria; that we should look for the best; somebody who can deliver. You don’t clamour for zoning and do micro-zoning and to look for anyone who doesn’t have much value to add to the development of the country”, Ortom further stated.
On the outcome of his committee that zoned the chairmanship of the party to north, he said: “But I think that nobody is against what my committee did; we all accepted it and we are working towards it and by the grace of God PDP is good to go, because we are confident and we know that the entire country is waiting for the PDP to provide leadership”.
On his political ambition, after serving two term of eight years as governor, he said, he was yet to decide whether to contest for Senatorial election in 2023. “I am still consulting with God because I do not take any decision without consulting my God. If He says yes, I will go ahead and contest, but if He says no, I will obey His decision”.
