How Ortom Brought Oshiomhole To His Knees |The Source

By Gideon Njoku

The past few days were not quite good for former National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress, APC, who was, also, a two-time Governor of Edo State. It was  double jeopardy for him.

First, the victory of Godwin Obaseki, Governor of Edo State, now of the PDP, over the APC at the Court of Appeal.

Second, Oshiomhole was brought to his knees by the Governor of Benue State, Samuel Ortom.

Both situations were brought upon the APC and Oshiomhole, by Oshiomhole’s legendary foul- mouthedness. His tongue is as sharp as razor, and what spues from it, acidic.

The case for which Obaseki emerged victorious against the APC was Oshiomhole’s handiwork. He, as the Chairman of the APC, disqualified Obaseki, a sitting Governor, over an alleged certificate forgery of the University of Ibadan.

On disqualification, Obaseki defected to the PDP which happily gave him the Governorship ticket. Oshiomhole campaigned against him, using the alleged certificate forgery, as a peg. But not only did Obaseki, his former ally, defeat him and his candidate at the poll, he defeated him in Courts, the most recent being on Wednesday, March 17, at the Court of Appeal, Abuja.

In a unanimous judgement, Their Lordships affirmed that Obaseki graduated from the University of Ibadan, citing as an irrefutable fact, the evidence of the Deputy Registrar of the University.

While Oshiomhole was still trying to come to terms with that defeat, and loss of hope of ever installing his candidate, Pastor Osagie Ize-Iyamu, as Governor, he was brought to his knees by Ortom.

His problem with Ortom started when the Governor, seeing that he was likely to be denied a second term ticket by his then political party, the APC, defected to the PDP. Again, it happened within  the period of Oshiomhole’s Chairmanship of the APC. Under Oshiomhole, the APC lost some states, allegedly, over his leadership style.

Addressing the Press on July 27, 2018, in his capacity as the APC Chairman, Oshiomhole descended on Ortom. He accused him of being personally responsible for the heinous crime of murder  perpetrated in the State within the period.

A shocked and scandalized Ortom asked Oshiomhole to retract the apparent libel and defamation of character   contained in his pronouncements at the Press Conference, and publicly apologise to him.. He gave him an ultimatum to so do, or he would go to Court.

Oshiomhole ignored Ortom who proceeded to Court. Within the period, Oshiomhole was sacked as the National Chairman of the APC, mainly over his spat with Obaseki and other sundry  issues.

Ortom was relentless in his pursuit of the case. It was a case everybody knew Oshiomhole would lose because he had no evidence to back his claims.

Seeing Ortom’s relentlessness, and seeing that he was no longer the Chairman of the APC, and that the party may no longer be able to pick the Court’s bills, Oshiomhole did the most sensible thing –

He went back to his vomit.

In doing that, he tendered a public apology to Ortom, and retracted everything he said about the Governor during his 2018 address of the Press. In the retraction published in three National newspapers,  Oshiomhole

admitted he lied against Governor Ortom; he admitted he had no facts to back the claims he made, he admitted his sources were wrong. And he apologised to Ortom.

Following is Oshiomhole’s published apology as carried in Newspapers of  March 18, 2021, personally signed by him, and entitled:

RETRACTION OF PUBLICATION

“On the 27th day of July, 2018 at the National Headquarters of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and particularly in my capacity then as the Chairman of the Party, I addressed different national issues as well as some events which occurred in Benue State, including the movement earlier that day of his Excellency, Dr. Samuel Ortom (Executive Governor of Benue State) from the All Progressives Congress (APC) to the Peoples Democratic Party.

“In the course of the press conference, I made certain comments about Dr Ortom on the basis of information I have since found to be false and baseless.

“His Excellency Dr Samuel Ortom felt embarrassed, defamed and deeply aggrieved by the comments I made at the said press conference, culminating in litigation.

“That politics aside, Governor Samuel Ortom is a dear friend and brother with whom I have shared so much in common, including mutual respect.

“That as former colleagues and one time members of the Nigerian Governors’ forum and most importantly as someone whom I am  just a phone call away from, any ridicule, embarrassment, spite and insult caused Dr Samuel Ortom is regretted.

“Owing to the relationship we share and in the larger interest of peace, harmony and brotherliness, I believe a complete retraction of my comments made on 27th July, 2018, and which Dr Samuel Ortom found offensive is proper and necessary.

“In view of all the above, I hereby retract the comments made during the press conference on 27th July, 2018, as it relates to Dr Samuel Ortom.”

Known for his famed foul-mouthedness, Oshiomhole had unleashed same on a number of high profile individuals.

For instance, he once called for the arrest, probe and prosecution of former Presidents Olusegun Obasanjo and Goodluck Jonathan. Both men, at one time or the other, contributed to his success in politics. He had also descended on Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, the Director-General of the World Trade Organisation, calling her incompetent, and accused her, of mismanaging Nigeria’s  economy. Okonjo-Iweala was Nigeria’s Minister for Finance.

And when Ize-Iyamu was on the opposite side, and Governorship candidate of the PDP in 2016, he called the candidate a thief, a fake pastor, a cultists and untrustworthy.

In the run-up to the 2020 Governorship election in the state when he embraced Ize-Iyamu, and ditched Onaseki, he dismissed his allegations against him in 2016, as politics!