A social political organization in Benue state, the Zone A People’s Assembly (ZAPA) has called on the federal government to desist from intimidating the Benue State Governor, Samuel Ortom but address issues insecurity and rising unemployment in the country.
This followed the recent press release by the Senior Special Assistant on Media to the President, Garba Shehu who tried to mock the Benue State Governor over his recent interview on AriseTV.
In a press statement entitled “Stop Intimidating Governor Samuel Ortom” the group said the presidency should desist from blackmailing the Benue State Governor because according to them, “Ortom has not done any wrong by advising the President.”
The organization regretted that “each time the Governor challenges President Muhammadu Buhari on specific issues, especially those bothering on insecurity that is affecting every facet of life in the country, the presidency would always abandoned these issues and indulge in ignoble acts of blackmail in order to intimidate the Governor to cheap submission.”
The statement which was jointly signed by Fannen Mondo and J T Ornguga, KSJi, President and Secretary respectively said in part, “How is it a lie that President Buhari only thinks like a fulaniman and not as a president of the country like Nigeria?”
They went on; “just recently, the Governor of Katsina State, Aminu Masari called on the people of the state to take up arms and defend themselves against the terrorists in their state. This is the President’s state. Nobody said anything to him.”
The statement added, “after nearly seven years in office, the APC-led federal government has failed to fix the nations refineries which was one of their major campaign messages. President Buhari and his party are flat footed on how to fix the nations economy. This has gone to show they planned to take out 3 trillion from the national treasury in the name of fuel subsidy. Its a clear manifestation ineptitude on the part of the APC.”
ZAPA admonished the presidency to give satisfactory answers on the issue of grazing routes and grazing reserves in his response, stressing that, “for goodness sake, who in this country is still talking about grazing routes and grazing reserves?”
According to the group, “It is only a typical Fulani man that will still be thinking of those primitive, outdated and mediaval methods of rearing livestock in the 21st century when the only global acceptable practice on rearing of cattle is ranching.
“President Buhari should learn to read the body language of citizens. Benue people understand the challenges Governor Ortom is facing. That was why they overwhelmingly re-elected him for second term against all odds including massive sponsorship against his elections from the presidency.
“The Governor has not disappointed Benje people. He has put in place so much infrastructure on the ground. Many township roads have received attention. Many rural roads have been taken care of, while others are still under construction and rehabilitation amongst others.
“All that the people of Benue state want is the dislodgement of marauding fulanis from their homesteads and farmland so that they can leave the IDP camps and return to their homes,” they argued.
The group also tasksd the president to prove Governor Ortom wrong by taking drastic measures against the criminal Fulanis and stop handling with kidgloves the menace of insecurity being perpetrated by his kinsmen. If this is done, Benue people will go to their farms and continue to feed the nation as the food basket.
In the same vein, the ZAPA leaders charged Governor Samuel Ortom not to be intimidated by what they described as “blackmailing, badmouthing and feeble threats by the presidency” but “to remain resolute and fear no Goliath”.
The group pledged their unalloyed support for the Governor assuring him that they are with him and will always queue behind him with the needed support against any blackmail, threats and intimidations from any quarters.
