Ismail Omipidan and Rose Ejembi, Makurdi

In the build up to the electioneering, Governor Samuel Ortom of Benue State and his estranged political godfather and leader of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the state, Senator George Akume, promised to bury each other politically.

But by the time the election battle was won and lost, Akume lost his bid to return to the Senate, just as the APC governorship candidate, Emmanuel Jime, could not oust Ortom at the poll. Ortom carried the day.

As soon as the Independent National  Electoral Commission (INEC) declared the election result in his favour, Ortom went with his family and close associates to lay flat on the altar at the Redeemed Christian Church of God, Judges Quarters, Makurdi.

It was his own way of appreciating God for surviving the political landmines placed on his path by his erstwhile political godfather and former Benue State governor, Senator Akume.

Ortom who had just been re elected for a second term in office paid obeisance to God in appreciation for the manner in which God fought his battles for him and gave him victory in the end.

Indeed, it has been a very tortuous journey for Governor Ortom as the legion of political enemies against him at some points seemed unconquerable.

Recall that in the build up to party primaries in the country, Ortom cross-carpeted from the APC to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) after a brawl with Senator Akume.

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That singular act, was seen by Akume as an affront on him and he vowed to send Ortom back to the “gutter” where he claimed o have picked the governor from in the first instance.

Also, Ortom’s audacity in accenting to the Benue Open Grazing Prohibition and Ranches Law 2017 and events leading to promulgating that law was seen as a slap on the Federal Government.

Although, some staunch members of the PDP who felt aggrieved by Ortom’s return to the party left, many prominent members including two former senate presidents, David Mark and Iyorchia Ayu, former Governor Gabriel Suswam, former Interior Minister, Abba Moro and a host of others stood by him.

Eventually, when Governor Ortom emerged the governorship candidate of the PDP during its primary which held at the Aper Aku Stadium, Makurdi, the party saw the need to come together more than ever before to support their candidate so that they can win the election and return to power after four years of sojourn as an opposition party.

Then, the fiasco about federal might crept into the scenario as supporters of the APC continued to taunt PDP supporters about how President Muhammadu Buhari -led Federal Government would ensure the candidate of the APC won at all costs.

Recall also that during the campaign rally of President Buhari in Benue State, the former governor and leader of the APC in the state, Senator Akume, publicly told the crowd of APC supporters that the Benue people had no problems with the Fulani, as according to him, both tribes had lived together peacefully  for years.

Akume went ahead to inform the President that the incumbent had armed Livestock Guards ahead of the elections and requested the federal government to send enough security for the elections in the state.

But Ortom, on the other hand, in one of his chats with newsmen  said the people’s might is more than federal might stressing that when God and the people are solidly behind a man, there is absolutely nothing any federal might can do.

Expectedly, the former governor could not come to terms with the fact that someone whom he claimed to have picked from the “gutter, dusted and pushed up the ladder” until he became governor could turn round to spite him. Akume, who tendered apologies to the people of the state for foisting Ortom on them in 2015, equally vowed to ensure that he returns him to the “gutter“where he picked him from.

Replying, Ortom who also apologised to the people of the state for allowing the former governor misled him for three years, vowed to retire him from politics. The bickering between the two of them, no doubt set the stage for the 2019 governorship election in the state.  Although, over 30 candidates from different political parties participated in the election, it was obvious from the beginning that the battle was going to be a keen contest between the PDP and the APC, a scenario, Daily Sun aptly predicted long before the poll.

And true to our prediction, the March 16, 2019 governorship election had Governor Ortom of the PDP scoring a total of 410,576 votes to lead his closest contender, Emmanuel Jime of the APC who polled a total of 329,022 votes. But at the end of the day the exercise was declared inconclusive.

State Returning officer in the election, Prof. Sabastine Maimako while disclosing that the margin of lead between the two parties was 81,554 stated further that the total number of registered voters in areas where votes were cancelled and elections not held was 121,019 adding that the number of cancelled votes was more than the margin of lead by the PDP.

Maimako who declared the election inconclusive therefore announced that INEC would hold supplementary election in the affected polling units in those areas within 21 days.

Although, the declaration did not go down well with the PDP and many supporters of the party, the development afforded the two political parties to go back to the trenches with a view to proving their mettle in the supplementary election which was later fixed for March 23.

Political watchers in the state and beyond felt that declaring the election inconclusive was needless looking at the margin of lead between the two parties and the number of accredited voters who are eligible to vote in the supplementary election.

However, at the end of the March 23 supplementary election, Governor Samuel Ortom of the PDP emerged winner after he polled a total of 434,473 votes to beat his closest contender, Emmanuel Jime of the APC who polled a total of 345,155 votes.  But Akume lost his re-election bid, as Ortom succeeded in retiring him from politics.

Little wonder, the governor, who was watching the live broadcast of the election result at the Government House with family, friends and associates immediately rushed with all of them to church to give thanks to God for the victory.

At the church, the governor laid down flat on the altar with his wife, Eunice, his son, as well as the Deputy Governor, Benson Abounu and his wife.

The governor who led the prayer of praise called God who gave him the victory different sweet names and again dedicated his victory to the Almighty God and the people of Benue State.

Speaking on the battles he fought in the build up to the elections, the governor said “as it is captured in the book of Ecclesiastics 9 verse 11 ‘the battle is not for the swift nor for the strong nor the race to the fastest runner nor success for men of wisdom but everything come by time and chance as God gives.’ So it is very clear, I was not re-elected because I am the incumbent governor but because God has designed it to be so. I am really indebted to the Almighty God because it has not been easy. “

Explaining how he almost gave up two years into the election, Ortom further said “in fact at a point in 2017 I decided that I was not going contest again because of what was happening at the time, the security issues, the funding issues, the non payment of salaries and the arrears of pension and gratuity and others. And I seemed to have been helpless then and nobody wanted to hear any kind of explanation largely because of the blackmail from social media and other forms of falsehood that were being spread against me.

“I was really overwhelmed and I decided that I wasn’t going to contest again, let me be a one term governor but have my peace because I could not stand the pains that people felt that I brought on them. But I quickly remembered that there was need to consult God. I took time to pray and at the end of my prayers he said ‘that is the pain of leadership, you should be willing to accommodate all that. ‘It is part of training and as long as l am doing the right thing and I am convinced in my heart that I am not deceiving the people and God and of course I am not deceiving God and so I should be focused.’ Just like in the Bible where Moses was leading the children of Israel from Egypt to the Promised Land it wasn’t an easy task leading them. He had his pains and even though he was talking to God directly but the kind of castigation and insults that he received was massive. But at the end God demonstrated that He is God because all the challenges that he encountered on the way to the Promised Land, God helped him to overcome them.’ So God encouraged me to be focused that He is the beginning and the end, that anything He starts He ends. The tenure of a governor by the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria is two terms of four years each. So God assured me that He was going to complete that process Himself. And by 2018 I saw the demonstration and the testimony that God gave. The same people who were against me rose up in my defence. They were able to identify my failures and also identified my success and said look, ‘we must stand behind you, we cannot abandon you.’ So God created that environment and today I have been re-elected,” the governor said.

On what to expect from him, beginning from May 29, the former  Industry, Trade and Investment minister, further said “and you can see the way God has structured this my second term, today, I have no godfather. That was a major challenge in my first tenure. So for the people of Benue State to elect me without a godfather, it is obviously clear that my allegiance will be to the people of the state and I will do only what the people of Benue State want.  There will no more be godfatherism in the politics of Benue State. Even when I complete my tenure I am not going to be a godfather to anyone. We will allow God to decide. God Almighty will decide who presides over whatever leadership role anyone is given. Now it is my turn, tomorrow it will be another person’s turn to get leadership.”