Gists By Ortom tells Presidency
Governor Samuel Ortom of Benue State
Benue State Governor, Samuel Ortom,
on Saturday called on the Federal
Government to stop intimidating
patriotic Nigerians who raise concern
over insecurity in the country.
Ortom described as unfortunate the
response of the Presidency to the
Catholic Bishop of Sokoto Diocese,
Bishop Matthew Kukah’s address to the
United States Congress Committee on
Foreign Affairs regarding the wave of
insecurity in the country.
Kukah had in a virtual address before
the American lawmakers faulted the
handling of the security situation in
Nigeria by the President, Major General
Muhammadu Buhari (retd.).
The cleric also accused Buhari of
nepotism in key appointments, saying
his regime favoured Muslims over
Christians.
The governor, in a statement titled, ‘I
stand with Bishop Kukah,’ issued by his
Chief Press Secretary, Terver Akase,
said as a patriotic Nigerian, he would
have said similar things if he were to
address the same audience.
The governor reminded the Presidency
that Nigeria today was practising
democracy which had no room for
repression and dictatorship.
He explained that the country’s
Constitution guarantees the freedom of
speech to all citizens, “unlike a military
regime which suppresses the right of
the people to voice their opinions on
challenges facing their country.
Ortom said Kukah was right when he
stated that nepotism had been elevated
above federal character by the present
administration.
The statement read in part, “He
(Ortom) expects the Presidency to
rather be worried that Nigeria is ranked
as the most terrorised nation in Africa
with an average of over 2,000 deaths
per year on account of terrorism. He
emphasises that the combative
approach the Presidency has adopted in
engaging citizens on issues will not
solve the problems confronting the
country.”
The governor said Bishop Kukah was
not the first Nigerian to address a
foreign audience on the security
situation in the country, recalling that
in February 2015, Buhari, was at the
time the candidate of All Progressives
Congress when he delivered a speech at
Chatham House in London, where he
said, “Boko Haram has sadly put
Nigeria on the terrorism map, killing
more than 13,000 of our nationals.”
The statement added, “The President
went on to announce to the world on
that occasion that apart from the Civil
War era, Nigeria had never been more
insecure in the country’s history.”