
Benue State Governor, Samuel Ortom
Criticism: ‘Garba Shehu under the influence of some negative substances,’ Ortom replies Presidency

War of words between the Presidency and the Benue State Governor, Samuel Ortom escalated, Thursday, when the latter told the Senior Special Adviser on Media and Publicity to President Muhammadu Buhari, Mr. Garba Shehu that he was under the influence of some negative substances over his choice of words in responding to criticism raised over high level of insecurity in Benue and the rest of the country.

It would be recalled that Governor Ortom has been under fire from the Presidency following his last Tuesday interview granted to Channels Television where he alleged ‘Fulanisation’ agenda by President Buhari through his insistence on open grazing in all parts of the country.

This is also as the Benue governor had accused Buhari of selective justice in refusal to prosecute killer Fulani herdsmen arrested in the state.
In response, the Presidency, Wednesday, through Garba Shehu accused Ortom of being a tribalist who cannot accommodate others in his domain, as well as inciting ethnic violence, adding that the governor is responsible for the surge in insecurity.
The face-off has not died down since the promulgation of the anti-open grazing of cattle and livestock bill enacted by the Benue House of Assembly and promptly signed into law by Ortom.
However, reacting to Garba’s statement, Thursday, the Governor, though his media aide, Terver Akase took a swipe at Buhari’s spokesman, Garba Shehu, saying he is ‘under the influence of negative substances’ for abandoning the message and going for the messenger.
According to Ortom’s spokesman, the governor ‘spoke the minds of the most Nigerians on specific areas of failure of the Presidency and its complicity in the heinous crimes committed against citizens by armed Fulani herdsmen and other terrorists,’ even as he demanded an apology from the Presidency for maligning the governor in its response.
“We read the statement released by the Presidency in response to Governor Samuel Ortom’s recent interview on Channels Television in which he raised a number of concerns bordering on the worsening security situation across the country.
“The tone of the said statement shows the quality of Presidency Nigeria currently has. They abandoned the message and went for the messenger.
“To describe as ‘undistinguished’, the career of a man who has held many key positions at the state and national levels proves that those who penned the piece were under the influence of some negative substances.
“For the information of Garba Shehu and his cohorts, Governor Ortom rose to become a Local Government Chairman, State Publicity Secretary of National Centre Party of Nigeria; State Treasurer of All People’s Party, State Secretary as well as State Deputy Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, National Auditor of PDP, Minister of the Federal Republic and now a two-term Governor.
“The Governor spoke the minds of most Nigerians on specific areas of failure of the Presidency and its complicity in the heinous crimes committed against citizens by armed Fulani herdsmen and other terrorists. Instead of taking the Governor on those points, Shehu went chasing vain and mundane matters in a desperate attempt to malign the Governor.
“We demand an apology from the Presidency for accusing Governor Ortom of stirring ethnic tensions and calling for genocide. The Presidency has never hidden its hatred for the Governor and its latest outing only confirms that fact,” the statement by Ortom read.