PDP Crisis: Details Of Meeting Between Ortom, Tambuwal Emerge

The details of the meeting between Governor Samuel Ortom of Benue State and his Sokoto counterpart, Aminu Tambuwal have emerged.

Governor Ortom received Tambuwal at his private residence in Markurdi, the Benue state capital on Sunday, with the aim to resolve the internal crisis rocking the party.

Naija News reports that Tambuwal is the Director-General of the PDP Presidential Campaign Organisation, while Ortom is the leader of the G5 governors known as the Integrity Group.

Speaking to reporters at the end of the meeting, Ortom said Tambuwal came to visit him to discuss the crisis rocking the party and how the aggrieved governors can work with the party’s flagbearer, Atiku Abubakar.

Ortom stated that the meeting was at the instance of his Sokoto counterpart, stressing that the party leadership headed by the National Chairman, Iyorchia Ayu, had failed woefully.

He argued that the arrogance and nonchalant attitude of the party leadership aggravated the crisis, adding that nobody cared to reach out to the aggrieved governors when the crisis started.

Ortom also commended the visit of his counterpart and expressed optimism that the crisis will soon be resolved if the party heeds his advice.

He said: “This meeting is at his (Tambuwal) instance. We have discussed quite a number of issues including the division in the PDP; the G-5 which I am a member. He is here principally to see how we can team up and work together as a party.

“I have told him he is welcome, we are together, we are members of the PDP. But I have said that the leadership of this party has failed to take advantage of the challenges of the party and make it stronger.

“Right from when we held our convention, instead of the leadership deploying its internal dispute resolution mechanism to look at the grievances that arose as a result of the dispute that arose from the primary, no matter how stupid they were, they have failed to do this.

“Rather, it is arrogance, a nonchalant attitude; and nobody has cared to reach out to us even when we voiced out that things were not going on well.

“And we have discussed my opinion on how I think this matter can be resolved. And I believe that as a leader and the DG of the campaign, he would do the needful because I am not alone. Talking to me alone will not solve the problem but reaching out to others. I believe he will do the needful to pull the party together.“

Also speaking, Tambuwal said efforts were in progress toward resolving the crisis, stating that the dispute was not alien to the group or family.

He said: “Governor Ortom and I have had time to converse and engage on what is happening in our party. Governor Ortom is a leader in this party when you look at his political trajectory, history, and where he is today.

“He holds a very important position in the affairs of our party. I have said this before and about three months ago, that internal party wranglings are normal and what we have been having is not a war of attrition but political disagreement.

“Even in our families, we have reasons to disagree and agree, at some other times when you have a such disagreement and you come back together, you bond more stronger and wax stronger.

“So, it’s work in progress and we have met several times but we are working to bring everybody together to work for this party. That is the mission of my being here in Makurdi.

“He (Ortom) is a principled person on the issues we are handling and we have had a very strong conversation with him of course, I will engage with the rest of our colleagues and our leaders to see how best we can come back together as one family and work towards making sure that the PDP come out stronger and win the elections in 2023.”

This article was originally published on Naija News