Benue State Governor, Samuel Ortom, says the current smear campaign against him by All Progressives Congress, APC, in Benue State indicates that the opposition party has lost steam and has nothing to tell the people ahead of this year’s elections.
Ortom spoke at a thanksgiving mass which the Isherev and Utyondu communities in Guma and Makurdi local government areas organized for him on Sunday, at Saint Francis Mission, Daudu.
He described as baseless, allegations that he has defrauded the state government and funded his private business organizations, saying he is ready to waive his immunity and face prosecution if need be.
The Governor stated that the expansion of the business conglomerate which he established before he assumed office was being funded from bank loans from the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, the Bank of Industry, BOI, and Nexim Bank.
“Before I became Governor, I was a well established industrialist and although I no longer manage the companies myself, they are being expanded from loans obtained from various financial institutions and the records are there,” he said.
He described as false and mischievous allegations from leaders of a political party that he had diverted public funds into his private businesses in Nigeria and abroad.
The Governor said the recent utterances of APC leaders in Benue State showed that the opposition is bereft of what to tell the people to win their votes in the coming elections.
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He dismissed claims that he had set up any businesses abroad and stated that he might take legal action against those who made the allegations.
Major stakeholders from the communities including two former Peoples Democratic Party, PDP governorship aspirants, Messrs John Tondu and Rt. Hon David Iorhemba, Secretary of the party’s campaign team in the State, Dr Cletus Ityokyaa, as well as former commissioner, Mr. John Enger, assured Governor Ortom of his reelection at the occasion.
In his sermon, Rev. Father Barnabas Shaagee, admonished Christians to involve Jesus Christ in all spheres of their lives so that He could make positive contributions like what He did at the wedding in Canaan.
