What is your reaction to the handing over of party structure to Governor Ortom last Monday?
What happened on Monday is the best thing to have happened to PDP in Benue State. You know that Governor Samuel Ortom joined the party recently and there had been issues until the elders, in their own ingenuity, designed a solution to the problem. To me, it is a sign of good things to come. Mind you, politics at any level is important, people stability is also important. So, all they have done suggested that peace can prevail at any time, because no matter what is used to achieve the coming together of the party chieftains is not bad as far as I am concerned.
What do you think the coming together of the stalwarts and the joining of Governor Ortom portends to the party in the coming elections in the state?
Winning the coming election is like a journey of a thousand miles, which begins with a step from what we saw on Monday. It is a clear indication that the PDP is on its way to victory. Everybody that matters within the party was in the hall to find a common solution. I think that is the strategy for them to win the election in the state.
But the decision of the elders seems to have created problem with other governorship aspirants who are threatening to quit?
Like what the governor said during the caucus meeting; he said that all other things remain the same, in other words, let nobody say because he is contesting and taking over the leadership, therefore, the other contestants are relegated to the background. He said that there will be level playing field for everybody such that whoever emerges, God has destined the person.
Some of the aspirants are expressing disgust at the way the elders went about it, saying it will create apathy?
That is the problem with Nigerian politics, once somebody loses; the next thing is to defect. That is not supposed to be so. But aspirants should come with open minds to contest and allow the process to be transparent and once you see that there is transparency and no one is cheated, then those who lose should support whoever wins. If you have 10 aspirants, all the 10 cannot win, because there is no way to have 10 governors at a time. That means the other nine have lost and the best thing to do is to queue behind whoever wins. This is important, because all the aspirants have followers and they should let their followers understand the situation and support the winner so as to ensure the victory of the party. That should be paramount. So, we should desist from the usual style of when one loses election, he leaves the party, because 10 people cannot be governor at the same time.
Some of the aspirants are saying that Governor Ortom winning the party ticket will make the party lose the election in 2019, arguing that he has failed. What is your take on this?
Ortom deserves a second term, because whether you like it or not, experience is the best teacher. Ortom has undergone the torture of leadership, having garnered some experiences; what is left for him is to build on what is on ground. The argument of saying somebody has not done well and wants to start from the beginning does not hold water. Do we continue to start from the beginning every time? So, why don’t we build on what we have? As far as I am concerned, Ortom is in the best position to forge ahead.
You talk of nonpayment of salaries, you talk of this one and the other, these are issues that will be made better as time goes on. You can’t tell me that one will just come and say he has the magic wand to solve the problem just like that. Whereas they will just use that but when the time comes, they will be saying a different thing. So, to me, I think that Ortom will improve in those areas he has not done well.
Some people are saying that the governor is over-stressing the anti-open grazing law. What do you have to say on this?
What are they saying? You use what you have to get what you want; do you imagine what the anti-open grazing law has done even across the country? The minister of defence was saying some things during the crisis, the Miyetti Allah people were also against, but despite all the threats, Governor Ortom stood his ground that on the law we all stand. So, he should be allowed to ensure that the law is not abrogated as being canvassed by the opposition. If he is using it as a campaign strategy, there is nothing wrong in that.
The governor has also been emphasising adherence to zoning arrangement, which is making some people to say that the support Senator David Mark and Idoma people are giving to the governor is to actualise the zoning of the governorship to Idoma land in 2023. What do you have to say on this?
Yes, I stand by the zoning arrangement. Since the creation of Benue State, how many governors have we elected, starting from Aper Aku to the present time? Are they not Tiv people? If there is any arrangement to make the governorship move to the other side, I stand by that arrangement.
Do you think Governor Ortom will support it then?
He has to support it if all the reasons put on ground are geared towards it. He will support it.
and then