BREAKING: Benue Gov Dumps APC, Says He's Now a Free Man

Governor Samuel Ortom 

Governor of Benue State, Samuel Ortom on Monday dumped the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC.

Mr. Ortom announced his defection shortly after swearing in his Special Adviser on Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs, Jerome Torshimbe.

He said he had been red-carded out of APC and was now standing outside the football pitch “as a free man”.

Ortom did not however announce his defection to any other political party in the country, but said he had started consulting with some relevant stakeholders and will soon announce his next move.

“Many people have been asking that after dedicating the state to God we are still facing challenges, but I know that the God that saw the Israelites pass through the wilderness, and took them to the promised land will also see us through our difficult times,” he said on Monday.

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“I know one thing, all these challenges that we see today, we shall see them no more. All that we are required to do is not to begin to be wayward in our conduct but to move to the righteous side of God. Once we do that, things will work out for our good.

“Looking at what is happening to us, sometimes I’m tempted to think that we are dying like people who do not have God. But we must choose the path of working with God, obeying and serving him. If we do that and ensure that his values get into our hearts and we work with him, development will be inevitable. Let us work and encourage those things that can develop us.

“As for party, I have been given red card and I’m outside the pitch. So, if I have been given red card and I’m standing outside, I’m a free man. So I don’t know what will happen next but I’m waiting. If others approach me, then I will tell the Benue people that I’m joining another football club. I’m a child of destiny and it’s only God that will decide what I will be", the Governor said the event.

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Governor Ortom's open confrontations with the presidency and federal authorities following the killing of over 100 people of the state by Fulani herdsmen within the last three months has made speculators to predict possible shifting of ground by the Governor.

Governor Ortom's eventual dumping of the ruling APC is coming long after the Governor of the troubled North central state of Benue was rumoured to have secretly decamped to the opposition Peoples Democratic Party, PDP.

In mid April this year, Mr. Ortom refuted media reports that he has decamped to the the PDP.

"I remain a member of the All Progressives Congress, APC. I have no intention of joining another political party", Ortom who have been battling Fulani herdsmen/farmers crisis in the North Central Benue state told party leaders; this website reported on April 11, 2018.