The rumour concerning the defection of the Benue State Governor, Samuel Ortom to the All Progressives Congress (APC) has refused to abate.
The latest reports revealed how the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) was recently visited by governors elected on the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC) from the north-central.
The governors who visited Ortom in Makurdi on Sunday, December 20, were allegedly at the state Government House to woo their counterpart back into the APC.
Meanwhile, the governor of Niger State and chairman of the North Central Governors’ Forum (NCGF), Abubakar Sani Bello, on Monday, December 21, debunked speculation that they were in Benue to lure Governor Ortom back into the ruling party.
Governor Bello, who debunked the rumour while fielding questions from journalists, said their convergence in Makurdi was devoid of politics but to address the common challenges of insecurity facing their states.
He said the time had come for the states in the north-central to look inward to jointly tackle issues affecting the zone, explaining that for the zone to achieve the desired goals, the forum has decided that the meetings be rotated amongst member states.
While expressing concern on how the zone has been short-changed in all spheres of development, Governor Bello said regular meetings would help the forum to evolve new strategies aimed at addressing the challenges confronting the zone especially as it affects security, infrastructure, economy and politics among other issues.
Describing the outgoing year as the worst of all years witnessed by Nigerians, he prayed to God that the nation would overcome and come out stronger.
In his remarks, Governor Ortom appreciated the chairman of the forum for holding the meeting in Benue state, noting that the problems of Nigeria are beyond politics, ethnicity, and religion, adding that the problems are deeply rooted and difficult to solve.
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