By Aare Abiodun Oluwarotimi, Reporting for Nigerian Concord Newspaper
Stakeholders of the People’s Democratic Party in Benue state have passed a Vote-of-Confidence on the Leader of the PDP in Benue State, His Excellency, Chief Samuel Ortom for the sacrificial work he has been doing tirelessly to reposition the party and keep it growing stronger towards the objective of recapturing power in future elections.
The vote of confidence was passed on the former governor of the state at the a press conference addressed by the party’s stakeholders in Makurdi this morning.
The press conference was tagged: “PEACE, UNITY AND RESPECT FOR CONSTITUTED AUTHORITY MUST BE PLACED ABOVE OTHER CONSIDERATIONS, TO MOVE PDP FORWARD”
Below is the text of the press conference:
Protocols
Gentlemen of the Press,
We address you this morning on the state of affairs in the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Benue State. The aim is to shed light on topical issues, and by so doing douse tensions and reinforce confidence in our members and the general public who look up to our great party as the most viable alternative political platform.
As critical stakeholders of the party, we acknowledge the challenges that have arisen from the conduct so far of the ongoing elective Congresses to put in place executive structures for the party in the state.
We observe that those challenges, on the positive side, highlight the viability of our great party and its attractiveness to the people, giving rise to the intensity of aspirations for executive positions on its platform.
The challenges also reflect a natural fallout from an exercise of this nature and magnitude. This places a demand on the party’s leadership to accommodate and address lingering grievances and agitations, such as have been witnessed from the conduct of the Ward and Local Government Congresses so far.
We must at this point express our gratitude to the National Working Committee of the party under the astute and visionary leadership of the Acting National Chairman, Ambassador Umar Iliya Damagum, for the direction and support given to the Benue State chapter of the party through the congresses conducted thus far.
We appreciate the work of the National Ward Congress Committee which was sent to the state from the National Secretariat of the party to conduct the Ward congresses and also the National Ward Congresses Appeal Panel which attended to the petitions that arose from the exercise and did firm and impartial justice to the petitions.
We at this point, formally welcome the Caretaker State Working Committee of the party, led by AVM (Rtd.) Napoleon Bali, which was appointed by the National Working Committee of our great party and has since assumed duty with zeal and the determination to see out its mandate successfully.
As stakeholders of the party, we have immense confidence in the Caretaker Committee and pledge our unalloyed loyalty to their authority and support for their work.
Equally, we commend in the highest degree, the work of the National Local Government Congress Committee which only a few days back was sent to the state by the National Working Committee of the party and conducted the Local Government Congresses.
The exercise which was held in 17 out of the 23 local government areas of the state went on successfully, while its conduct in the remaining 6 areas is pending the determination of a legal action brought by some members of the party.
As attested by the National Local Government Congress Committee to the state, the exercise under its watch was successful in all of the 17 local government areas where it held.
We await the judgment of the court and hopefully the eventual conduct of the exercise in the remaining 6 local government areas, even as we are expecting the arrival to the state of the National Local Government Appeal Panel. We trust that the Panel will receive and attend to the complaints as may arise from the conduct of the recent exercise, with the same, or even better sense of duty and astuteness as the Ward Appeal Panel.
None of these could not have been achieved without the collective will, determination and selflessness of the party’s college of leaders under the capable leadership of His Excellency Samuel Ortom who is Benue PDP’s Leader and the Senate Minority Leader, Distinguished Senator Patrick Abba Moro, as well as His Excellency, Senator Gabriel Suswam.
At this juncture, we unanimously pass a Vote-of-Confidence on the National Working Committee of our great party under the leadership of National Chairman, Ambassador Damagum.
We also pass a Vote-of-Confidence on the Leader of the PDP in Benue State, His Excellency, Chief Samuel Ortom for the sacrificial work he has been doing tirelessly to reposition the party and keep it growing stronger towards the objective of recapturing power in future elections.
It is further our position that a vote-of-confidence is hereby passed on the Leader of the Opposition in Nigeria, Senate Minority Leader, Distinguished Senator Patrick Abba Moro, for his steadfast commitment to the well-being and growth of PDP in Benue State and beyond, and for doing the party proud by the competent manner he is discharging his legislative and representative duties on the floor of the Red Chamber of Nigeria’s National Assembly.
On the Caretaker State Working Committee of our great party in the state, we also pass a vote-of-confidence in affirmation of the good works they have embarked upon in the short time so far they have been in office at the helm of affairs of the PDP in Benue.
We urge the Benue PDP family to more than ever before, close ranks and place the interests of the party above those of individuals or groups within its ranks. The umbrella of the party is large enough to accommodate the aspirations of its members at the various opportunities for elective offices as will arise from time to time.
For those who made it into the Ward and Local Government Executive Committees so far, we congratulate them and charge them to be magnanimous in victory, by reaching out to those who aspired alongside them. The spirit must be that of “No Victor, No Vanquished”.
And to those who did not succeed in their aspirations, we urge them to be sporting in their acceptance of the outcome of the exercises conducted. Their enlightened focus should remain the preservation of the party’s image and fortunes at all times. There will be more opportunities for elective offices at the forthcoming local government elections and at the general elections of 2027.
We call for adherence to the laws of the party which copiously provide for safeguarding the rights of its members and the obligations they owe it. As members of the PDP, we must, even when aggrieved, be guided by provisions of Section 58 of the party’s constitution (as Amended in 2017) which prohibit the sponsoring of subversive activities within its ranks, publication of its internal disputes and resort to litigation without first exhausting the dispute resolution modalities provided in its domestic forum.
We urge all members of the party who have taken their grievances to court without exploring the internal dispute resolution mechanisms provided in its laws and those who have been visibly active in the media publicizing the disputes which have arisen from the ongoing elective congresses to withdraw such actions and abide by the party’s laws.
It has not yet been proven that there is any dispute that we cannot resolve among ourselves as members of the Benue PDP family.
We hereby call for a cessation of all outward ventilation of grievances by members of the party, and enjoin aggrieved members to channel their actions inward.
We call for peace, we call for closing of ranks, we call for unity of purpose. Above all, we call for adherence to the authority of the laws of the party in the spirit of the principle of party supremacy.
‘The Party Is Supreme’ must be our watchword at all times.
Long Live PDP
Long Live Benue State
Long Live Federal Republic of Nigeria.