By Tordue Gudu
tordueshamo@gmail.com
It is common knowledge that the People’s Democratic Party, PDP was in a state of coma in Benue State from 2015 when the party suffered a humiliating defeat in the elections.
That huge blow of 2015 left the PDP in tatters and Suswam’s unwillingness to provide the desired leadership as an opposition leader left the PDP near its grave until Chief Samuel Ortom made a return to the party due to some undemocratic tendencies and ill-treatment of Benue State by the Buhari-led administration in the face of the invasion and killings of the people by marauding herdsmen.
The return of Chief Ortom saw the resurrection of the PDP and its subsequent resounding victory at the polls in 2019. Governor Ortom’s return to PDP in 2018 provided the oxygen that has sustained the party to date.
Sadly, the very man who served as the executioner that oversaw the temporary death of the party, Senator Gabriel Suswam has now mobilized some fifth columnists within the party to again, tear the umbrella to shreds for their selfish reasons.
Even Senator Suswam who had suffered a disgraceful loss in the 2015 senatorial polls due to some reasons, including the Ortom factor, got his senatorial ambition achieved, riding on the back of Samuel Ortom in 2019. Chief Ortom and a few genuine and loyal PDP members held the party firmly from then on until Suswam and his cohorts from within frustrated the party to defeat in the 2023 elections due to their selfish interests. Sadly, Suswam was clearly seen to be sponsoring and supporting the APC Governor Hyacinth Alia before the election and during the post-election legal tussles between the two parties, especially the governorship petition and other cases.
As if that was not enough, Suswam has sustained his sabotage of the PDP and ungodly romance with the current Governor, Hyacinth Alia and the entire APC in Benue State with a promise to destroy the PDP in the state and give Alia a soft-landing ahead of 2027, especially as the governor is at a war of attrition with his party stakeholders and kingmakers in the state.
Also unfortunate is the fact that Suswam has embarked on a voyage to see if he could rid the PDP of those who are the soul of the party in Benue State as seen in his underhand distractions in the name of suspending Chief Samuel Ortom who is doing for the party what Suswam could not do after he left office in 2015 despite grossly mismanaging resources of the state.
Interestingly, the Benue State Working Committee of the PDP before its tenure expired yesterday August 8, 2024, saw the handwriting on the wall and took proactive steps to stop Suswam who is being sponsored with billions by his ally the Governor and other desperate elements from within and outside PDP to weaken the party. Funnily enough, those who are being deceived by Suswam that he can destroy PDP to give them hope of less competition in subsequent elections are oblivious that he himself cannot secure his political future as he has always depended on others for victory.
For those who still don’t know, Chief Samuel Ortom is to a large extent the life-wire of Benue PDP and he seems to be unwilling to let any undemocratic elements destroy the party. Ortom has also left nothing to chance and is still doing his best to ensure that the structure of the party doesn’t get hijacked by desperate and selfish persons masquerading as patriotic arty men – the likes of Senator Orker Jev, Terngu Tsegba, Terseer Tsumba, Prof Nicholas Ada, Paul Ubwa, among others.
The purported suspension of Chief Ortom by a few suspended members of the State Working committee of the PDP was indeed an ambitious step to destabilize the party. But it is good that they failed and Suswam is in turn, suspended and is expected to appear before a disciplinary committee of the party.
The disciplinary committee is expected to do a good job without fear or favour and sanction Senator Suswam and his cohorts appropriately to serve as deterrent to others who may be nursing a similar idea to rebel against the party they have benefitted so much from.
Granted that the shenanigans of a few are capable of discouraging Chief Ortom, he as the leader of the party in the state must keep his head high and ignore the distractions and irritations by political desperados being sponsored by Governor Alia and coordinated by Senator Suswam. Ortom has the structure of the party under his grip as was demonstrated during the last Ward congresses and has never failed in providing the desired leadership. Chief Ortom has a lot of respect for other leaders of the party such as the Senate Minority Leader, Senator Abba Moro with whom they have been working in harmony and very hard to save the soul of PDP in Benue State from being sold to the highest bidder by buccaneers within the party. May he continue to lead the way for others who wish the party well to follow. Ortom may not be appreciated now, but posterity will be kind to him and his legacies.
Gudu, a concerned member of Benue PDP writes from Hudco Quarters in Makurdi.
