By Isaac Kertyo, Makurdi
Governor Samuel Ortom of Benue State on Tuesday declared that, President Muhammadu Buhari cannot shift responsibility to him as Governor as far as issues of insecurity are concerned.
The Governor made his position known while briefing Journalists at the Government House Makurdi on his second term’s score card to mark Democracy Day Anniversary.
Ortom said this against the backdrop of the recent statement by the President that Governors should stop running to him but rather tackle security challenges bedeviling their various states.
“The President can’t shift responsibility to me. He is the Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces- so he can’t ask Governors to go back to their States and face security challenges. I don’t have the Army or the Police,” he posited.
Continuing, Ortom admonished Nigerians to jettison ethnicity, religion and politics if the nation must move forward. “We must put aside ethnicity, religion and politics to move the country forward”.
He insisted that Benue State won’t accept reopening of Grazing routes, explaining that there is nothing like Grazing routes in the state. ” I have facts and figures, Benue is not affected.”
Ortom calls for the urgent review of the 1999 Constitution, describing it as faulty. ” There is need to look at the Constitution of Nigeria with the view of amending it for faster growth of our country.”
According to the Governor he achieved giant strides in education, security, agriculture, health, rural infrastructure among other development efforts using merger resources at his disposal.
The Governor maintained that the state government was currently catering for over one million Internally Displaced Persons’ who are in various camps. He lauded development partners, individuals and corporate organizations for their humanitarian services.
He commended the People of Benue State over their support and prayers which has made it possible for him to achieve much during the period under review.
The Governor equally lauded media practitioners for their balanced reportage, even as he implored them to maintain the tempo.
