Gov Ortom asks Akume to apologise over frivolous allegations

By Jimin Geoffrey

Benue State Governor, Samuel Ortom has insisted that the Minister of Special Duties and Intergovernmental Affairs, Senator George Akume must recant and apologize over frivolous allegations he levelled against his person at a press conference in Abuja.

Governor Ortom gave the condition today following an appeal by Second Class traditional rulers of Tiv extraction who asked him to withdraw the N60 billion libel suit he instituted against Senator Akume over allegations of corruption he made against the Governor.

He explained that the allegations Akume levelled against him were weighty and the honourable thing to do was to give the Minister an opportunity to prove the allegations in a court of law.

The Governor however hinted that in order not to disappoint the traditional rulers, the Minister should recant his position through another press conference and tender an apology for his actions.

He stated that it was ridiculous for the Minister to have called on security agencies to come and retrieve cutlasses and den guns in the hands of farmers without mentioning the Ak-47 and other sophisticated weapons in the hands of militia herdsmen.

Governor Ortom hinted that he had already constituted a committee to probe the administration of Senator Akume as Governor and would file a case against the Minister at the antigraft agencies after the findings.

Earlier, Spokesman for the traditional rulers, Chief Daniel Abomtse appealed to the Governor to withdraw the suit he instituted against Senator Akume while he also called on the senator to recant his allegations against the Governor.

The traditional rulers condemned the call for the dissolution of democratically elected government in Benue State or the truncation of same under any guise.

They frowned at attempts to change the narrative on the killings in Benue for political gains, stressing that profiling Governor Ortom as a tribal messiah who fans embers of ethnic bigotry is false and should be resisted by those who mean well for the state.