Governor Samuel Ortom of Benue State has picked the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) nomination form to contest the state governorship election in 2019.
The governor, after picking the forms, thanked the leadership and members of PDP for the opportunity given him to seek the party’s ticket for the coming election.
Tever Akase, his Chief Press Secretary, in a statement quoted the governor as also thanking his teeming supporters across the state, urging them to “remain peaceful and sustain the spirit of politics without bitterness as they have been doing.”
“Governor Ortom also thanked Benue people for their prayers and goodwill, promising not to disappoint them,” Akase added.
Also, the Benue State governor will on Monday take control of the PDP in the state.
It was gathered that the process of taking control of the party had been concluded at the national secretariat of the party in Abuja.
Reacting to the development, a former governor of the state, Dr Gabriel Suswam, said the control of the party by Ortom was in line with the party constitution but it did not mean that the party structure had been handed over to the governor.
Suswan said, “The governor taking control of the party does not mean that they have given him the party structure. What we are saying is that since he is the governor, he should look after the party. It doesn’t mean anything; the structure is still as it is.
“He takes control of the party but the structure we have on the ground remains; that is what the PDP constitution says.
“They wanted 60 percent of the structure and gave 40 percent to us. The existing structure is intact.”
