Benue State chapter of the All Progressive Congress (APC) has asked his members to boycott the stakeholders’ meeting holding on Monday, August 30, 2021 at government house, Makurdi.
The state government had extended an invitation to the opposition party to discuss the proposed privatization of state industries.
The state caretaker Publicity Secretary of the party, James Orgunga, in a statement entitled, “Benue APC Not Party To Ortom’s Ineffectual Stakeholders’ Meetings Anymore” said that the decision to boycott the meeting was due to frequent attacks on the federal government by the state governor.
Orgunga in the statement said, “it is apprehensive about the recent grandstanding of Governor Samuel Ortom and his team, especially now that they are quick to malign and castigate the federal government for failing the Benue people without presenting proofs of the governor’s love for the state which should manifest through a credible scorecard of overwhelming tactile projects.
He explained that the party had shown understanding with the Ortom government in the past by voluntarily gave free ideas that would improve the state but regretted that such ‘good ideas’ were not implemented and accused govermor Ortom of resorting in blame games and media denigration of the president, which he claimed had provided more verifiable projects in Benue than the governor.
“With this conspicuous crave by the governor to canonize himself and demonize President Buhari and the APC, we WARN all APC members to steer clear of these so- called stakeholders’ meetings that are manifestly intended to legitimize the governor’s unholy TV outbursts; the new dimension he has adopted to launch his 2023 campaigns as well as cover up his many failings.”
“Benue APC cannot continue to expend workable ideas on a government that honestly lacks policy direction and is merely clutching at straws hence, we urge all our members to distance themselves from this meeting as the party shall not hesitate to apply sanctions against any recalcitrant member found at the meeting.”
“Already, the Ortom administration having failed to build even a single industry for the state in more than six years, has resolved to SELL all the legacy companies of the state that were established and built by his predecessors, an action he is scouting for other accomplices to validate his deeds with unsophisticated endorsements.”
“It is widely reported that some helpless groups that are tied to his apron string have been cajoled into giving a nod to this destructively unclear privatization agenda but the APC in Benue State shall no longer share tables with people who are out to ruin the entire fortunes of Benue through reckless spendings on media wars against the presidency but refusing to invest in agriculture where the state has comparative advantage.
“We once again, re-echoe that the APC in Benue is not on the same page with Governor Samuel Ortom in his mindless billingsgate against President Muhammadu Buhari and the party is diametrically opposed to his cunning privatization agenda which is a conscious step towards putting the final nail in Benue’s underdevelopment coffin”, the statement read in parts.
But in a swift response, the state governor, Samuel Ortom said that the presence of the opposition party at the meeting will do his administration no favour.
Hence, the govermor said he had no problem with the decision of the party to stay away from government events.
In statement issued by his Chief Press Secretary, Terver Akase, govermor Ortom explained that at the time he took the mantle of leadership, he promised to be the Governor of every Benue person who will at all times make them part of policy formulation, decisions and programmes of government, saying, ‘He has kept that promise in the last six years.
The statement further read, “Whenever the Governor is to meet with stakeholders to deliberate on critical issues of governance, all segments of the state including political parties are invited.”
“If APC in Benue State has great ideas to help the state to grow, as it claims, the stakeholders meeting offers the party ample opportunity to present its “good ideas” for the benefit of the state.
“The sentiment they raised on the proposed privatization of government owned enterprises is a jaundiced argument.”
“Benue is one of the very few states still keeping moribund companies in an era when the private sector is driving industrialization across the country and the rest of the world. Only recently, Cross River State put up over 40 state-owned industries for privatization. That’s an APC controlled state.
Ortom said that the absence of the party from the Benue stakeholders meeting today will neither affect the meeting nor stop the deliberations and implementation of resolutions that will be made at the forum.
He said that the invitation extended to APC to be part of government activities does no favour to his administration.
“The opposition party should rather commend the Governor’s magnanimous disposition to involve it in government functions despite the daily insults they hurl at his person and office.
Governor Ortom however assured that his administration will continue to address challenges confronting the people and involve them in all government decisions.
YOU SHOULD NOT MISS THESE HEADLINES FROM NIGERIAN TRIBUNE
We Have Not Had Water Supply In Months ― Abeokuta Residents
In spite of the huge investment in the water sector by the government and international organisations, water scarcity has grown to become a perennial nightmare for residents of Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital. This report x-rays the lives and experiences of residents in getting clean, potable and affordable water amidst the surge of COVID-19 cases in the state…
Selfies, video calls and Chinese documentaries: The things you’ll meet onboard Lagos-Ibadan train
The Lagos-Ibadan railway was inaugurated recently for a full paid operation by the Nigerian Railway Corporation after about a year of free test-run. Our reporter joined the train to and fro Lagos from Ibadan and tells his experience in this report…
and then