Politics
IN a last-ditch effort to prevent the Benue State Governor, Samuel Ortom, from formalising his departure from the All Progressives Congress, the party’s leadership has scheduled a meeting between him and Senator George Akume.
Our correspondent gathered in Abuja, on Tuesday, that a meeting earlier scheduled to hold at the APC National Secretariat, in Abuja, on Tuesday, was rescheduled for Wednesday at Ortom’s request.
Akume, who was at the party secretariat on Tuesday, left after meeting behind closed doors with the APC Deputy National Chairman (North), Senator Lawal Shuaibu, and other members of the National Working Committee.
It was gathered that Akume told the meeting that although there were disagreements between him and the governor, he neither threatened the governor nor did he ask him to leave the party.
A usually reliable party insider said, “This is politics and this time you know the stakes are high. We still value the governor and we will do everything humanly possible to ensure he remains.
“The fact that he has not written us formally and he has agreed to come to meet with us tomorrow (today) shows there is still room for negotiations.
“And as you know, there are procedures to be followed when a person wishes to become a member of a political party, there are also procedures to be followed when such a person wishes to withdraw his membership.”
Speaking after the meeting, Shuaibu noted: “We held fruitful discussions.”
When contacted, the National Publicity Secretary of the APC, Mallam Bolaji Abdullahi, told The PUNCH, “I just spoke with Governor Ortom now and the issues are being sorted out. The party is determined to resolve the issues and we are hopeful, the issues will be sorted out.”
The Benue State governor had on Monday announced that he was given a “red card” by his party and that he was free to join a party he shared the same ideology with to advance his political career. – Punch
Jul. 18, 2018 @ 10:55 GMT |
Tags: Akume feud APC intervenes in Ortom
