The Immediate past Governor of Benue State, Gabriel Suswam has taken yet another swipe at his successor, Governor Samuel Ortom.
Suswam who is currently seeking medical care outside the country via his official Facebook page said Ortom is wasting time and resources of the state to prosecute him and government officials who served in his administration, accusing the Governor of misplaced priorities.
Read full statement below:
“It has been over a year since the mandate of political power changed hands from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to the All Progressives Congress (APC), at the Federal level and also here in Benue State.
“This change of power came through peaceful, free and fair elections which were preceded by open space for unhindered play of politics in which the people expressed their political preferences and made the choices through the ballot which they deemed most appealing to them.
“It was an epoch in our history which was marked loudly and clearly by the power of the free ballot, and rightly the people had high hopes going forward from what could be termed their political investment by their confered mandate.
“My pride remains that all of this took place under my watch as Governor of this state, and I am grateful to Almighty God that I was able to surmount the pressures of high office and placed the sovereignty of the people above narrowed personal interests.
“By the time we as a political group were leaving the stage of power we had whetted the appetite of the people and lifted their democratic tastes to certain standards above what previously obtained.
“It is the reality of having attained such standards of Democracy that today places a minimum level of expectation by the people on the ruling APC controlled government in Benue State. And these are expectations that could only be met through ingenious application of available resources to execution of projects which are of priority to the people.
“These expectations in themselves form the basis for a contract between the people and government which is at once immediate and urgent in demand, and under the circumstance there hardly could exist room for excuses for non performance.
“Against this reality, I dare say that the governmnt of my successor, Gov. Samuel Ortom will need to evaluate all over again its priorities to align them with the expectations of the people for maximum impact. Spending quantum amounts of time and resources seeking after prosecution of my person and those who served under my administration could hardly pass for the priority of this state in this contemporary times.
“While I and the others being arrested on a daily basis may have nothing to fear from those arrests, it could never be ignored that such a trend is hardly helpful to the quest for a better and stronger Benue State which is only possible under an atmosphere of unity of purpose.
“May I say here that no governmnt can in all seriousness afford to throw away a sizeable portion of its human resources such as the political family I and others do belong in but which is presently estranged from the ruling government in this state, not by our own making but by the deliberate choice of the governmemt.
“I like to call on all PDP faithful in Benue State to remain steadfast, be law-abiding and understand that the role of the opposition which is a necessity thrust on us all by historic circumstances is one we must discharge with a view to building our state more than any other thing else.
“In discharging our role as the opposition, we must be mindful of the overall interest of Benue State and work towards ensuring that the electoral gains recorded during the last elections are not frittered away but are sustained and improved upon at all subsequent elections.
“This is an historic duty which we must discharge against whatever odds, be they arrests, threat to life and personal privation, for only through the power of the free ballot can we be able to build a society free and salubrious enough for us and generations after us.
“Lastly, I like to dispel the rumour being peddled by government that I have ran away from imminent police arrest. This is a most pedestrian lie which shouldn’t be coming from the high offices of government. I will come back after my Medicals to answer any invitation from security agencies when ever such is extended to me.”
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