By Adesina Soyooye
Samuel Ortom, Benue State Governor, has endorsed the Presidential candidate of the Labour Party, Peter Obi.
Ortom is a Peoples Democratic Party Governor. But he is a member of the Integrity Group in the PDP, among whom are five Governors, opposed to the Leadership of their Party and its Presidential Candidate, Atiku Abubakar.
The Group is led by Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike.
Governor Ortom spoke on Sunday in Benue when Obi paid him a courtesy call before he went to spend some time, on Christmas day, with Internally Displaced People, IDP’s in their Camps.
Addressing the people, Ortom urged them to vote for Obi in the 2023 Presidential race because Obi has capacity and would confront the challenges facing Nigeria and Nigerians headlong.
He said he would have accompanied Obi to his Campaigns, but cannot quite do so because he, Ortom, is of the PDP.
Wike: “Several Presidential Candidates have come here, and none of them has chosen to visit those IDPs camps and look at their plight to see how they are doing and give them hope that when they win, they will bring them succour, help, and hope.
“For you to have chosen to visit the IDPs on a Christmas day that you should be celebrating with your family, for me as a Christian, I say God will bless you and your aspirations. My prayer is that God will bless your aspiration to be the President of this country.
“Because I have seen capacity, faith, and hope, and I have seen someone who can bring the required equity, justice, and fairness that I have been pursuing since I became governor in 2015.
“If I were not in PDP, I would have been following you all over the place to canvass and vote for you.
“But because I’m in PDP, I’m telling Nigerians that this man can help deliver this country from its challenges.”
Ortom’s endorsement of Obi comes amidst strong rumours that the Integrity Group has resolved to endorse the LP Candidate in January.
A few days ago, its Leader, Wike, announced that he would tell Rivers People his choice of Candidate in January, and would aggressively campaign for him nationwide. “And nothing would happen”, he emphasized.
