Benue State Governor, Samuel Ortom, has announced his defection from the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
Ortom made the announcement on Wednesday shortly after some youths in the state stopped him from attending a reconciliation meeting with Senator George Akume set up by APC leaders.
The governor, who was elected on the platform of the APC in 2015, said he has forwarded his letter of resignation from the APC to his ward chairman.
He added that the ward chairman was ready to join him in the PDP.
Before the announcement was made, Ortom, who was heading to Abuja for the meeting with the APC leadership, was stopped by protesters under the aegis of Coalition of Benue Youths.
The coalition is made up of 40 groups.
Ortom, who was about driving out of the Benue State Government House in Makurdi, was stopped by the youths.
They also removed the flag of the APC on his car.
The youths, with placards bearing inscriptions such as “Ortom, don’t go back to APC”, “We don’t have land to donate for ranching”, “APC is Miyetti party”, “Our farms are not for cows” and “2019: On Ortom we stand”, said they would not support his re-election bid if he proceeded to Abuja for the meeting.
One of the spokesmen of the group, Pastor Dave Ogbole, who ordered the removal of the APC flag from Ortom’s official car, said: “We need a leader that will protect us and you have shown that in the past three years, but we don’t want you to attend the meeting with the leaders of APC.
“But if you insist, there is no problem, but be ready to crush all of us.”
When all pleas by Ortom was resisted, he turned back into the Government House.
