From Ahmad Muhammad, Bauchi
Governor, Samuel Ortom of Benue State has apologized to all “those who feel aggrieved or offended” over his statement that he was quoted to have said “to hell with Atiku Abubakar and those who are supporting Fulani man to become next president.”
Ortom was said he had made the remark last Sunday when he hosted the G5 governors in Makurdi the Capital of Benue that “To hell with Atiku and anyone supporting him. They should go and tell him. You want me to be a slave for a Fulani. It’s better I die. Anybody supporting Atiku is an enemy of Benue.
“My people are being killed and you want me to be quiet.
“My tenure ends in May and you can do whatever you want if you think you have the powers. I have written my will. When I gave it to my wife, she cried all night. If I die at 62, many of my mates have gone long time ago. If I die today, I’m a fulfilled person but let it be recorded that I died resisting the invasion and killing of my people.
“I will never support a Fulani man to become president. If there is another person who is ready to work with me and ensure the security of my people, I will work with him,” Ortom said.
But when asked in Bauchi whether he still maintains his position as earlier, Ortom said that: “That was not what I meant when I was captured saying that but all the same I know it will amount to logical fallacy if people have taken it the way I did. But I want to say to those who I have offended by my remarks I don’t mean that, I’m sorry about that,” he said.
He was in Bauchi alongside the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) G5 governors in a closed-door meeting with their Bauchi State counterpart, Senator Bala Abdulkadir Mohammed.
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