By Peter Duru, Makurdi

The Benue Youth Forum, BYF, Thursday said Governor Samuel Ortom has been outstanding in repositioning Benue state despite obvious challenges and should be commended and not vilified for political gains.

The group hence described as mischievous, uncharitable and grossly unfortunate a recent outing by one Aloo Tordue who castigated the governor saying he had not done anything good for the state and deserved to be in jail.

Outraged by the said statement, the BYF in a swift response by its National President,  Terrence Kuanum, Thursday in Makurdi, said it read with “utter disappointment, the careless, unguarded, and baseless comment considering the giant strides the governor has made and is still making towards the wholistic development of the state.”

According to him, “the BYF even doubt if the said Aloo ever existed since nobody who claims to be in touch with developments in Benue state could be so blind to the reality on ground.

“The unruly Aloo needs to be aware that Governor Ortom has changed the face of the state through massive infrastructural development ranging from construction of roads across the state to renovation/rehabilitation of thousands of schools at all levels.

“He must also know that Governor Ortom has established the Benue Health Insurance Scheme and has domesticated the Pencon law to solve the issue of challenges associated with payment of pension to retirees.

“Governor Ortom’s administration equally blazed the trail by being the first to graduate medical students at the Benue State University after many years of stagnation. This is in addition to settling the issue of accreditation for the Schools of Nursing in Makurdi and  School of Health Technology, Agasha.

“It is on record that Governor Ortom executed so many projects some of which were commissioned at different times by the governors of Rivers State, Nyesom Wike; Sokoto State, Aminu Tambuwal, Nasarawa State, Abdullahi Sule and Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi of Enugu State. This is in addition to a plethora of other projects under construction which will be commissioned very soon.

“So where on earth has the said Aloo Tordue been that he is totally oblivious of the massive transformation of the state by Governor Ortom in the last seven and half years? He was probably not briefed enough by his All Progressives Congress, APC, paymasters or they simply didn’t have the arsenals to send him to war with since the Ortom-led administration in Benue state has been without blemish despite the desperation by some spent forces in the APC who are bent on  pulling him down.

“Governor Ortom’s refusal to trade his conscience for the people of Benue State who gave him their mandate in 2015 and again in 2019 for political gains has set him up against those who don’t wish the state well. Governor Ortom’s resistance against the evil forces and his resilience has paid off greatly as shown in his tremendous feat.

“This faceless and misguided Aloo who is obviously working as a hireling of some failed politicians has to bow his head in shame as his attempt to diminish the sterling performance of Governor Ortom has failed.

“The Governor is reputed to be at the forefront of ensuring the security of lives and property of Benue people even in the face of destractions from enemies of the state.
“The penchant of the opposition APC in Benue coming in different shades and colours to cast aspersions on Governor Ortom even with his laudable achievements would never succeed.

“The Benue Youth Forum wishes to tell Aloo and his APC paymasters that he is terribly misinformed to the extent of giving false and horrible figures to represent the months the government is owing workers and retirees.

“The BYF however notes that it is rather disheartening that it is the Federal Government led by the APC that is bent on frustrating Governor Ortom’s efforts to protect the welfare and wellbeing of the people.

“Clear examples are the federal government’s refusal to grant the request to procure weapons for the Benue state Volunteer guards and the decision to deny the state the move to obtain loans and settle its financial obligations.

“The Benue Youth Forum therefore feels that it is Aloo Tordue that deserves to be in jail for deliberate mischief and desperation to misinform the people for peanuts from some characters whose political future is in jeopardy.

“The Forum calls on Benue people and other people of goodwill to discountenace the unfortunate and reckless comments credited to the faceless merchant of mischief.”