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2023: Ortom Assures Of Positive Outcome On PDP Zoning

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) 37 members’ zoning meeting ended inconclusively, yesterday in Abuja.
Chairman of the PDP Zoning Committee and Benue State Governor, Samuel Ortom, who disclosed this in a statement by his Chief Press Secretary, Nathaniel Ikyur said: “the meeting is yet to be concluded”.
The Benue State governor assured that the party would come out with an acceptable position for all.
According to the statement, the second meeting lasted for more than three hours at the Benue State Lodge, Asokoro, Abuja, and the meeting was peaceful without any tension.
The statement partly read, “The meeting is yet to be concluded. We have adjourned till Tuesday next week at the same time, same venue. And until we conclude the proceedings, there is not much to say. So far, all the members are quite understanding. There wasn’t any form of tension.
“Governor Ortom, who was flanked by Vice Chairman of the Committee, Hon Ndudi Elumelu and Chief Bode George and other members of the committee said all the members understand ourselves that zoning is very key and we are looking at it that at the end of it all, we will do something that everybody will accept and we will go ahead as one big family and win the 2023 elections.”
The committee is made up of 37 members drawn from the 36 states of the federation, including the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja.
However, the Benue State Governor, Samuel Ortom, has said that he has no reason to resign as the chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Zoning Committee ahead of the 2023 general election because of the N200million donation of his Rivers State counterpart, Chief Nyesom Wike in Makurdi.
Ortom insisted he must see through the assignment despite insinuations, saying emphatically, “I have no reason to resign”.
The governor was reacting to a media report credited to a faceless Arewa Youths Consultative Forum (AYCF) led by Yerima Shettima, who had accused him of compromising his position by receiving his Rivers State counterpart, Governor Nyesom Wike in Makurdi, the Benue State capital.
Wike was in Makurdi, last Sunday, where he declared his ambition to contest the 2023 presidential election.
Shortly after, Shetima alleged that the N200million donated by Wike to help rebuild the burnt Katsina-Ala and High-Level Makurdi markets in Benue State was to compromise Ortom.
But in a swift reaction, Ortom berated Shetima for being insensitive to the plight of the distressed people of Benue, and wondered how a gesture to distressed people would compromise him.
The governor stated: “I am shocked that some people can be insensitive to the plights of others who are distressed. What my brother Governor Wike did was to identify with our pains and offered succour to the best of his ability.”
He said that he is only “first among equals and not a dictator to impose any idea on members of the PDP zoning committee” who he said “are distinguished Nigerians who have excelled in their careers in life. So, for anyone or group to come out to suggest that one man will impose his will on the other 36 members is insulting.”
A statement by Ortom’s Spokesman, Nathaniel Ikyur, quoted him as saying: “Members of this committee will work out the best for this country and Nigeria will be better for the outcome of our assignment,” he stated.
On allegations that he was given money to influence him, Ortom declared; “This is not the first time Wike will donate money to Benue State. Wike has been one of the people in this country who have contributed to the upkeep of the more than 1.5million Benue people living in IDPs.”
He added: “Wike has also donated money to other states including some in the north. That did not make news to these so-called Arewa youths. Besides, he is not the first presidential aspirant to come to Benue to identify with our plight.”
Ortom said, “Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar was in Benue to consult with us a couple of weeks ago and he donated the sum of N50million to the IDPs. Then, Shettima and his Arewa youths did not see anything wrong with that and they did not ask me to resign.
“For the avoidance of doubt, we, in Benue state have no hatred for anyone a group of people. We will receive and accord due respect to any presidential aspirant who comes to consult us over his or her political ambition,” the governor maintained.
“So, it is hypocritical for this faceless group to twist this narrative of Wike’s visit is unfair and uncharitable. We must be open to all so that we get the best out of many that have come out to rescue this country from the misery the APC government has put us into,” the governor maintained.
Ortom reiterated that he would carry out the assignment diligently, honestly and will be guided by a good sense of justice and fairness to all.
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I’m Committed To Community Dev – Ajinwo
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RSG Tasks Rural Dwellers On RAAMP …As Sensitization Team Visits Akulga, Degema, Three Others

Rivers State Head of Service, Dr (Mrs) Inyingi Brown, has called on rural communities in the State to embrace the Rural Access and Agricultural marketing project (RAAMP) with a view to improving their living conditions.
This follows the ongoing sensitization campaign by the State Project Implementation Unit (SPIU) visits to Degema, Abonnema, Afam headquarters of Degema, Akuku Toru and Oyigbo Etche and Omuma local government areas respectively.
Dr Brown who was represented by the Deputy Director, Special Duties in her office, Mrs Dein Akpanah, said RAAMP was initiated by the Federal Government and World Bank to economically empower rural dwellers.s
She said the World Bank understands the plights of rural farmers and traders in the State, and therefore came up with the programme to address them.
According to her, RAAMP will improve the conditions of farmers, traders and fishermen, and therefore, behoves on every rural communities in the State to embrace the programme.
The Head of Service also said the programme would support the youths to be gainfully employed while bridges and roads will be built to link farms and fishing settlements.
Also speaking, the State project coordinator, Mr Joshua Kpakol, said the programme has the potential of creating millionaires among farmers and fishermen in the State.
Kpakol who was represented by Engr. Sam Tombari, said RAAMP would help farmers and fishermen to preserve their produce.
According to him, the project will build cold rooms and Silos for preservation of crops and fishes while access roads will also be created to link farmers and fishermen to the market.
He, however, warned them against any act that will lead to the suspension of the projects by the World Bank.
Kpakol particularly warned against acts such as kidnapping, marching ground, gender based violence and child labour, adding that such acts if they occur may lead to the cancellation of the project by the World Bank.
During the visit to Oyigbo local government area, Mr Joshua Kpakol, said the team was there to let them know how they will benefit from the Raamp.
The coordinator who was personally at Oyigbo said the World Bank introduced the project to check food insecurity in the State.
He said already 19 states in Nigeria are already benefitting from the project and called on them to embrace the project.
Meanwhile, stakeholders in the three local government areas have commended the World Bank for including their areas in the project.
They, however, complained over the incessant attacks by pirates on their waterways.
At Degema, King Agolia of Ke kingdom said land was a major problem in the kingdom.
King Agolia represented by High Chief Alpheus Damiebi said many indigenes of the kingdom are willing to go into farming but are handicapped by lack of land.
Also at Degema, the representative of the Omu Onyam Ekeim of Usokun Degema kingdom, Osoabo Isaac, said Degema has embraced the programme but needed more information on the implementation of the programme.
Similarly, while High Chief Precious Abadi advised that the project should not be narrowed to only crop farming, a community women leader, Mrs Orikinge Eremabo Otto, called for the construction of cold rooms in all fishing settlements in the area.
At Abonnema, Mr Diamond Kio linked the problem of the area to incessant piracy along waterways.
He also expressed fears over the possibility of the project being hijacked by politicians.
Also at Abonnema, a stakeholder, Ikiriko Kelvin, called on the World Bank to design an agricultural project that will suit the riverine environment, while at Oyigbo, HRH Eze Boniface Akawo expressed satisfaction with the project.
John Bibor
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Senate Replaces Natasha As Committee Chairman

The political mudslinging between the Senate leadership and Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan continued yesterday as the Senate named Senator Aniekan Bassey as the new Chairman of the Committee on Diaspora and Non-Governmental Organisations.
Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, announced the appointment during yesterday’s plenary, confirming Bassey’s replacement of Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan, who is currently on suspension.
Akpoti-Uduaghan was reassigned to the Diaspora and NGOs Committee in February after she was removed as Chair of the Senate Committee on Local Content during a minor reshuffle.
Bassey is the senator representing Akwa Ibom North-East Senatorial District.
Although no reason was given for her removal yesterday, the change is believed to be connected to her unresolved suspension.
In May, Justice Binta Nyako of the Federal High Court ordered her reinstatement and directed her to tender an apology to the Senate.
However, the Senate has insisted it has not received a certified true copy of the court judgment.
Akpoti-Uduaghan who represents Kogi Central, has yet to resume her legislative duties despite a recent court ruling that voided her suspension.
In a televised interview on Tuesday, Akpoti-Uduaghan said she was awaiting the Certified True Copy of the judgment before officially returning to plenary, citing legal advice and respect for institutional process.
Although the Federal High Court described her suspension as “excessive and unconstitutional”, a legal opinion dated July 5 and attributed to the Senate’s counsel, Paul Daudu (SAN), argued that the ruling lacked any binding directive to enforce her reinstatement.
Akpoti-Uduaghan, one of only three female senators in the current assembly, said the continued delay in allowing her return was not only a denial of her mandate but also a blow to democratic representation.
“By keeping me out of the chambers, the Senate is not just silencing Kogi Central, it’s denying Nigerian women and children representation. We are only three female senators now, down from eight,” she said.
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