Gov Ortom replies Akume, ‘I can never apologise to Buhari’

Benue State Governor, Samuel Ortom, has rejected pleas by the Minister of Special Duties and Inter-governmental Affairs, Sen. George Akume, to tender an unreserved apology to President Muhammadu Buhari and the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) over his (Ortom’s) recent attacks on the administration.

Akume, a leader of the party in the state had at a press conference in Abuja on Monday, cautioned Ortom to restrain himself from further attacking the federal government and to apologize to the President and the APC over his recent comments.

But in a statement made available to Ripples Nigeria on Tuesday by his Senior Special Assistant on Media, Terver Akase, Ortom said he will never shy away from expressing his criticisms of the Buhari administration.

In the statement, Ortom derided Akume, who is also a former governor of the state, for not standing by the Benue people; rather joining forces with the “enemies to organize a smear campaign against him.”

The statement reads: “As expected, Senator Akume and his group avoided responding to the issues of insecurity in the country which the Governor has repeatedly and rightly accused the Presidency of complicity.

“The outing of George Akume and others in Abuja was nothing more than a massage on the ego of the Presidency to curry personal favours.

“As long as he and his group secure their meal tickets, Benue can go to hell. A media attack on Governor Ortom instantly attracts a package from the Villa.

“Akume and his group must have been under immense pressure to hold the press conference and hurl vituperation against the Governor. This, they had to do to keep their jobs.”