Mymadness

02/01/2022

GOV ORTOM ATTENDS NKST MIM NATIONAL CONFERENCE

The Benue State Governor, Samuel Ortom a short while ago arrived at NKST Atukpu, Taraku Classis Gwer West Local Government Area for the National MIM Conference being held between Dec 30th, 2021-Jan 8th, 2022. The theme of the Conference: 'Stand Firm in Faith'.

©CPS Nathaniel Ikyur

02/01/2022

RE: OCH’IDOMA AND THE COMEDY OF VANITY

By Chief Ngutor Anyam

The piece by one Ejoyi O. Ode, set in derogatory language, is unfortunately crafted to envenom Governor Ortom and the entire Tiv Nation. It is a display of trite prejudiced mentality, guile, and self-subjugation, bereft of reason. And, presumably intended to cause strife and pitch the Tiv against their Idoma brothers.

The Idoma ruler-ship tradition is over 600 years, many years older than the arrival of the Tiv in the Benue Valley. The cherished tradition has 22 clan heads, each with beads handed over by fore-bearers of the clan. These beaded chiefs have always formed the Electoral College for the selection of an Och'Idoma since 1947 when the revered institution was created.

It is banal that Idoma culture and tradition significantly differ from that of the Tiv. For instance, whereas every Tiv man is a prince, heir, and potential or future beaded chief (including Tor Tiv), the Idoma have royals from where ascendency to beaded leadership is selected by the people. Consequently, lawmaking in the state to address chieftaincy issues ought to consider the various cultural dichotomy.

Therefore, when the Benue State House of Assembly: comprising the full compliment of Idoma members in the Assembly, and after the due process - including public hearing produced the Benue State Chieftaincy Law introducing unified new first-class, second-class and third-class chiefs in the land, concerned Idoma elite, like Mr. Ode should have complained and contested the law. The law was not the creation of Governor Ortom nor Tiv's political machination designed to humiliate and subjugate the Idoma people.

Agabaidu Elias Ikoyi Obekpa, of blessed memory, before his hunting expedition, saw the amended chieftaincy law as an affront to Idoma ancestral entities and deities. There were no new beads handed over by tradition to be awarded the new chiefs created in Idoma land. Agabaidu Obekpa could not directly challenge the vexing and abrasive law, however, Obekpa’s son made bold to challenge the law, and the matter is said to be under adjudication. It is to be recalled with nostalgia that Governor Ortom’s scheduled visit to Och’Idoma Palace in Otukpo was diverted by Idoma sons on the “security report” that Agabaidu Obekpa had set Aleku to kill Governor Ortom to stop the passage of the law.

When it mattered most, the majority of the Idoma elite - including beneficiaries of the new chieftaincy law, kept mute or sided against their tradition to desecrate Alekwu without projecting the consequences of the emergence of Agabaidu John Elaigwu Odogbo, through the same law. The belated teeth-gnashing, a campaign of calumny, and prejudicial name-calling of the highest office in the land are completely unwarranted.

The entire Tiv Nation is being disparaged and castigated while some Idoma elite is again hailing the absurdity as if the Tiv constituted the kingmakers that elected the new Och’Idoma. Unfortunately, this is also coming at a time many Tiv sons and daughters are calling for a gubernatorial power shift to Zone C.
I hold no brief for Governor Ortom or the Tiv Nation. Suffice to conclude that the Idoma elite that choose to desecrate Aleku and side the chieftaincy law were convinced that no tradition is cast in iron, especially in an evolving democratic nation-state like Nigeria. I see no offense committed by Governor Ortom or any other Tiv man in this matter. It is a bad strategy and misdirected ventilation to attack Governor Ortom or the Tiv, instead of the law that produced Agabaidu John Elaigwu Odogbo.

I take this opportunity to wish all well-meaning Benue sons and daughters, a happy and prosperous 2022.

31/12/2021

*NEW YEAR STRATEGIES TO AVOID UNNECESSARY PRESSURE IN 2022*

1. Put your kids in
schools you can afford
because expensive
schools don't
guarantee good
results. Just ensure
they attend a good
affordable school

2. Rent apartments you
can pay for
conveniently. Don’t live
in a house, you struggle
to pay yearly.

3. Let’s plan our lives and
live within our means.
Save more and spend
less.

4. Some women buy food
for their children every
morning before going
to school or even for
the whole family, do
you know it’s cheaper
to cook at home?

5. Some people don’t
earn much, but have
TV at home, go for
GOTV and upgrade
when your income
upgrades. It’s still the
same CNN anyway!

6. Eat healthy meals and
protect your family
from mosquitoes to
avoid going to the
hospital always.

7. Take advantage of
food and fruits in
season, it's cheaper
and you can be
creative to create
amazing meals.

8. Don’t copy your
neighbor’s lifestyle,
she earns well and her
husband is a ‘big
man’

9. Don’t follow trends,
wear clean well-
ironed clothes and
keep your hair neat.
You would still look
good.

10. Keep your circle
small, keep only
friends that have
senses!

11. Above all things, have
the fear of God, have
integrity, don’t be lazy
and be prayerful.

12. Planning is the key, if
you fail to plan, you
plan to FAIL.

13. Don't do more than
your budget this
Time, there is no
the award is given to the best
the family that wore an
expensive cloth for
the year

14. Don't be in
competition with
anyone...
The purpose of shoes
and clothes are to
make us smart and
good.

Thanks for reading and have a wonderful and blessed year ahead.

28/12/2021

BENUE PDP THANK THE PEOPLE FOR SHOWING AYU LOVE AT CHRISTMAS CELEBRATION

28th December, 2021

Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Benue State is full of gratitude to the people for their massive showing of love and support to the party's National Chairman, Dr. Iyorchia Ayu, yesterday at a Christmas celebration event n Gboko.

The event hosted by Dr. Ayu at his Hilltop residence in Gboko had in attendance His Excellency, Governor Samuel Ortom as well as leaders of the party and its teeming faithful from across the state.

Benue PDP is particularly overjoyed at the fact that this is a second event in Gboko in less than a month at which the National Chairman is being shown genuine wholesale love and support by the people.

The first was the decamping ceremony at which 3 term member of the House of Representatives for Gboko/Tarka Federal Constituency, Rt. Hon. John Dyegh, was received from the All Progressives Congress (APC) into our great party by the National Chairman and Governor Ortom.

This has made the case of our dear National Chairman an exception to the rule which holds that "a prophet may have no honour in his own home."

PDP is confident that this honour being done Dr. Ayu in his own home is a pedestal upon which to galvanise popular support for the party across the country sequel to its victory at the coming 2023 elections.

It is equally our joy that this showing of love by the people for the National Chairman is a reflection of the bonds of unity and common vision being enacted within the party under its Leader in Benue and North-Central Nigeria, Governor Ortom.

Long Live PDP
Long Live Benue State
Long Live Federal Republic of Nigeria

Bemgba Iortyom,
State Publicity Secretary,
PDP, Benue State.

25/12/2021

18/12/2021

RE: AKUME'S CLAIMS THAT AYU LACKS POLITICAL WEIGHT

18th December, 2021

Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Benue State note remarks made by Minister of Special Duties and Inter-Governmental Affairs, Senator George Akume, regarding the National Chairman of our great party, Dr. Iyorchia Ayu.

Speaking at an event of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Abuja a couple of days back, the Buhari Minister, apparently reacting to views expressed recently by Dr. Ayu, is quoted to have said "Ayu is hallucinating. I think it is even more than that. It is not just hallucinations but delusion of grandeur. He knows that he cannot win a ward councillorship election in his local government in Benue state."

Benue PDP see a need to enlighten Senator Akume on two basic home truths he threw overboard in making his remarks in issue here.

Firstly, Dr. Ayu as a cabinet Minister after his stint as President of the Senate of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, it was who took Akume from a mid-cadre civil service position and elevated him to the federal civil service, thereby kick-starting his grooming to eventually become Governor of Benue State.

The party note with shock that only a reprobate couldake such uncharitable remarks about his benefactor as Akume has done regarding the PDP National Chairman.

Benue PDP equally find as ridiculous the claim by Akume that Dr. Ayu is incapable of winning elections in his locality, since facts on ground currently show that the entire political strength of the Jemgbagh axis of the state have all teamed up with the PDP National Chairman, with the latest decamping of Rt. Hon. John Dyegh from APC into the PDP effectively marking the total extinction of the broom-wielders party in that axis.

Secondly, it is saddening that we have to enlighten the Buhari Minister to the fact that the game of party politics is a team sport like football, and not an individual sport like lawn tennis.

It therefore goes that Dr. Ayu, in every state of Nigeria will be working with teams of leaders of our great party on the mission to rescue Nigeria from the scourge of APC misrule.

And here in Benue we like to remind Akume that the party is under the leadership of Governor Samuel Ortom who's track record as a master political strategist is not in doubt to anyone.

We urge Akume to recall that from the time of Ortom's coming into PDP as State Secretary in 2000, the man has never lost a single election.

Ortom it was who saved him from being disgraced by then President Obasanjo in 2007 who using the instrumentality of 12/13 handed all key positions on the party's Executive Committees in the state to the Gemade/Unongo faction, leaving the Akume faction with the inconsequential Deputy Chairmanship position, but which Ortom took and used so effectively to help deliver victory for PDP in the 2007 polls.

Equally it was Ortom who ended PDP's 16 year rule in the state when he left the party in 2015, and restored it back to power when he returned in 2019, during which time he, Akume, was also kicked out of elective office positions having been there since 1999.

We urge Akume never to lose sight of the fact that PDP in Benue is a team and it's not about Ayu as an individual, that our great party is playing as in a football team, with everyone in his position playing towards the goal of victory at elections.

We are not like APC which under Akume's leadership plays as in a lawn tennis match where he alone decides what obtains on the lawn tennis court in his house on Kilometer 4 Gboko Road.

Bemgba Iortyom,
State Publicity Secretary,
PDP, Benue State.

13/12/2021

APC SINKS FURTHER IN BENUE AS DYEGH, OTHERS DUMP PARTY

By Jimin Geoffrey

The fortunes of the All Progressives Congress, APC in Benue State have further depleted with the exit of a three term member of the House of Representatives, Rt Hon John Dyegh and his teeming supporters.

A former director of administration at the Federal Medical Centre, Makurdi, Dr Joseph Igbawua also dumped the APC for the PDP.

The decamping ceremony which held Monday, 13th December, 2021 at NKST Primary School Genyi-Yandev in Gboko Local Government Area witnessed thousands of APC members in Gboko local government leaving the party in droves.

National Chairman of the PDP, Dr Iyorchia Ayu, who presented party flags to the lead decampees disclosed that one of his core agenda in the PDP is to reconcile all the state chapters of the party and prepare for victory at the polls in 2023.

He urged the people of the local government to shun divisive tendencies and support the party to ensure that the party is returned victorious in all future elections in the state and the federal level.

He assured the mammoth crowd that trooped out for the ceremony that massive homecoming to the PDP will be witnessed under his leadership as National Chairman.

He hinted that one day, Governor Ortom will bring Senator Akume to him to be baptized by the PDP Bishop.

Dr Ayu warned rumour mongers and crisis entrepreneurs to stay clear of the leadership in Benue, pointing out that he will never fight with Governor Ortom but remain a pillar of support for him and his administration.

The National Chairman said the only honour Benue people will give him is to ensure victory for the PDP in the 2023 elections across all the wards in the state.

Hon Dyegh, representing Gboko-Tarka at the House of Representatives said his exit from the APC was primarily because of the election of Dr Iyorchia Ayu as National Chairman of the People's Democratic Party, PDP.

Besides, he said he believes Governor Ortom deserves support from every Benue person because of the purposeful leadership he has brought to bear on the affairs of the state coupled with the transformation of Gboko by the Ortom administration.

Receiving the decampees, Governor Samuel Ortom pledged sustained unity among leaders in the state, stressing that a lot of benefits will be derived from unity of purpose.

Governor Ortom who corroborated Senator Ayu's prediction that Senator George Akume will soon return to the PDP, said Akume does not belong to where he is currently and will surely return and be baptized by the PDP.

During the decamping ceremony, Hon Dyegh presented two 406 Peugeot Cars to Gboko and Tarka Local Government PDP Chairmen as his contribution to the growth of the party.

Senators Gabriel Suswam, Orker Jev, Abba Moro as well as members of the House of Representatives and Benue State House of Assembly Speaker among others gave goodwill messages at the ceremony.

Photo Credit: Shimataver Akile.

12/12/2021

REMOVE THOSE 16 YEARS OF PDP "MISRULE" AND THERE WOULD BE NO:
1. N18k Minimum wage
2. EFCC.
3. ICPC.
4. NHIS
5. NSCDC
6. Card Reader.
7. TSA.
8. New National ID Card.
9. New Drivers Licence.
10. BVN.
11. New pension scheme
12. Abuja to Kaduna Rail.
13. Abuja Light Rail.
14. GSM
15. PTDF
16. 14 New Federal Universities.
17. Akpabio Stadium, Uyo.
18. KASU & a host of other states universities.
19. Alot of private universities were granted licence.
20. Debt settlement and cancellation.
21. Fastest growing economy in Africa.
22. Third fastest growing economy in the world.
23. Exchange rate: N160/$1.
24. Fuel: N87.
25. General low prices of commodities compared to now.
26. New Kaduna Central Market
First Nigerian Drone Launched
27. First Nigerian Satellite launched
28. NDA moved to its permanent site after about 25yrs attempts.
29. NDA admitted its first female combatant cadets.
30. AFIT, NN school of Armaments Tech, Nigerian Police Academy were established.
31. Nigerian Legislative Institute was established.
32. Relative peace.
33. Freedom of speech and communication,
34. Naval Base, Lokoja
35. International Market, Lokoja
36. 80% of the Airports in the country
37.Bag of foreign rice 8000 etc.
38.Creation of many Federal Universities in the country
39.National Stadium Abuja
40. 25billion naira capital base bank reforms
41. Remodeling of 22 airports to international standard across the nation
42.NAFDAC
43.Dangote as the richest African and Blackman in the world ETC.

I CHALLENGE APC MEMBERS TO LIST THE ACHIEVEMENTS OF BUHARI/APC IN 6 YEARS!!!

10/12/2021

"Kidnapping for ransom is now big business. We share sovereignty with terrorists who kidnap and r**e our women, including our mothers and under-aged children.
The terrorists even kill them when ransom is delayed.
These are not political alarms, but statements of facts."

Sen. Iyorchia Ayu
PDP National Chairman
10-12-2021

07/12/2021

AKUME IS A LIABILITY WITHOUT POLITICAL VALUE – BENUE APC GROUP

By PressTv, December 7, 2021

Contrary to Senator George Akume’s claims that he lost re-election to the Senate because of his support for President Muhammadu Buhari, a group known as Zone B APC Youth Agenda in a statement Monday in Makurdi, described the narrative as totally false.

“The truth is that Akume has been the one weighing down President Buhari in Benue State by virtue of his unpopularity”, the Group argued.

According to the Zone B Youth Agenda, “Akume is a liability to the APC. He is the singular reason the party lost Benue. If he is allowed to hold sway, the party will fare no better in 2023.” They declared that Benue people are leaving the party in droves because of Akume’s anti people interest.

The group accused the defeated Senator of promoting selfish interest, greed and lust for money through acts of extortion from Benue people.

According to the Zone B APC Youth Agenda, “in 2019, President Buhari scored better in the elections than Senator Akume” this they noted is in contrast to the false narrative by Akume who won only 2 Local Governments Areas (Tarka and Makurdi) out of the 7 LGAs that make up Benue North West Senatorial district (Zone B) where he (Akume) hails from.

The Group further argued that if the Tiv people voted out of hate for Akume and his support for Buhari as he claims, how come the President scored higher votes than Akume?

They cited the cases in the 11 council wards under Makurdi LGA in Agan ward Buhari got 3,128 against Akume’s 2,970. Ankpa/Wadata Buhari scored 4,659, Akume trailing behind with 3,863. Bar ward Buhari received 3,014 against Akume’s 2,013.

They further stated that in Central South ward, Buhari scored 4,551 and Akume scoring only 4,007. In Clerk/Market ward Buhari received 3,649 while Akume got 3,268. Just as in Fiidi ward Buhari received 5,363 with Akume scoring just 3,971.

Giving more statistics, the Group said in Wailomayo ward Buhari scored 5,981 and Akume a paltry 3,289. In Mbalagh ward Buhari scored 2,317 and Akume got 2,307. In Modern market ward, Buhari got 1,526 with Akume receiving only 1,386 votes.

They cited further the scenario in North Bank Ward 1 where the President garnered 1,987 and Akume received only 1,386 votes, same applied to North Bank Ward 2 where the President earned 3,409 and Akume trailed behind with 3,202, the Group argued.

01/12/2021

RE: AN APC FACTION'S PRESS CONFERENCE ON THE CURRENT STATE OF AFFAIRS IN BENUE STATE:

AKUME SHOULD ANSWER TO CASES OF FINANCIAL CRIMES UNEARTHED BY AUDIT ABOUT HIS STEWARDSHIP AS GOVERNOR

1st December, 2021

Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Benue State has observed views raised at a press conference by one of those individuals laying claim to the Chairmanship of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the state, a fellow by name Austine Agada.

In the press conference, the said Mr. Agada raised a number of complaints against Governor Samuel Ortom and his administration, chiefly among which is the issue of the audit report which recently unearthed cases of gross financial offences against George Akume during his tenure as Governor of Benue State from 1999 to 2007.

It is the position of Benue PDP that Akume should do the honourable needful by availing himself to answer to those cases of financial crimes so unearthed against him by the audit rather than resorting to sponsoring press conferences by a neophyte whose status is still unclear even within his party, the APC.

Crying wolf about the audit report being a witch-hunt is totally immaterial as the due process of law requires him to prove his innocence before a competent authority when called upon to do so.

The fellow Austin Agada must have been handed the poorly written script to read before the press or himself is suffering from acute poverty of thought and history that he needs a quick fix in basic enlightenment which PDP graciously offer to him as such:

Only a comedian out to create a hulaballoo will assert that APC won the 2019 elections in Benue State but were robbed of the victory, as at the conclusion of that election, the rejection of the broom wielders party by the electorate in the state was so total that they were not even runners up to PDP, rather it was the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) which came a distant second with 2 seats in the House of Representatives whereas APC won just a single seat.

How could APC have been robbed of victory in Benue, if they had won, when they had a security armada deployed to the state as if it were a military war zone, which themselves christened as "Federal Might", comprising Special Forces, DSS units, top brasshats of the Nigeria Police Force with heavy detachments of police personnel?

Does it make sense at all seeking to link recent utterances by Governor Ortom about the state of things in the state to the bailout loan he is about to receive from federal coffers?

Should the fact that the governor is about to receive a bailout loan for his administration gag him from speaking on issues such as where his farm produce are being stolen or where he is alarmed at the negative tendency being indulged in by opposition elements in the state who indulge in habitual alcoholism refusing to be productive, yet blaming government for virtually every failure of their lives?

Agada should also receive enlightenment that, while he has taken to singing about backlog of salaries and pensions arrears lately in the manner children sing nursery rhymes, the root of it all traces back to the time of the Governorship tenure of his leader, George Akume, from 1999 to 2007, during which time salaries and pensions were owed workers for no justifiable reason.

The Akume era as governor witnessed numerous external intervention funding to the state for purposes of ecological, educational as well as social amenities development, yet there was scarcely any projects executed commensurate to those fundings, which were rather channeled to oiling a loose, irresponsible and extravagant lifestyle in official circles.

It is the consequences of such a wasteful era that the Suswam administration battled with and passed on to the Ortom administration which today in the midst of hugely depleted revenue inflow coupled with debilitating security challenges, is still managing to pay salaries on a regular monthly basis, since mid-2018.

The Ortom administration has also taken head-on the monster of pensions arrears it inherited by domesticating the Pensions Law in the state by which to plug into the pool of funds reserved for automated payment of pensions nationwide, thereby eliminating totally the problems faced by retirees when they leave the civil service.

Agada must also be enlightened to the fact that it was during Akume's time as governor that the equity shares held by the state in Benue Cement Company were sold off, with the proceeds embezzled and to date not accounted for.

Moreover, it was during same era that establishment of industries by the state became a corruption stratagem by which huge loans were taken and a fraction of them deployed to the purchase of scraps and obsolete equipment which were installed at those sites named as industries.

Benue PDP make bold to ask which of those Akume era industries saw the light of day, from the Tomatoes processing plant in Wannune to the Fertiliser blending plant in Makurdi? They were all conduit pipes for siphoning of public funds and today stand as relics which government must find a way of disposing off as waste.

Perhaps, Agada may need to be as well enlightened to the elementary fact that there is no legacy anywhere in Benue today as stands to the name of the Akume era worth mentioning: He may go ahead and point to just single kilometer of road built by his leader while he was governor anywhere in the state.

If today the audits have found it needful to call that era to account, it is for the reason that such colossal waste of public resources as took place under it must of necessity be addressed and this is a fact which cannot be vitiated by tagging it a witch-hunt or wizard-hunt or whatever.

This is a fact Agada and other opposition naysayers must bear in mind while indulging in their favourite past time of criticising the Ortom administration while it is assiduously at work clearing the augean stable of corruption and bad governance which their leader left behind as a legacy.

The fact that Akume is nursing the ambition to run for any office anywhere in the world does not confer on him immunity from accounting for his stewardship at previous offices he held or the one he is presently occupying.

Bembga Iortyom
State Publicity Secretary,
PDP, Benue State.

27/11/2021

Presentation of Certificate of Return and Inauguration of the Newly Elected National Officers of our Party.

The National Convention Organizing Committee (NCOC), in collaboration with the National Working Committee (NWC) of our Great Party, wishes to invite all our former Presidents and Vice Presidents, Governors and Former Governors, Serving and former Members of the BoT, members of the National Assembly, all members of NEC, stakeholders of our party, the International Communities, CSOs and the Media to the very special and noble occasion of presentation of Certificate of Return and Swearing-in Ceremony of the newly elected National Officers as follows-

ALL MEMBERS OF THE NWC AND NEWLY ELECTED NATIONAL OFFICERS ARE KINDLY REQUESTED TO BE AVAILABLE AS FOLLOWS-

Date: Thursday, December 09, 2021

Venue: Chida International Hotel, 224 Solomon Lar Road, Utako District, Abuja, FCT.

Time: 11:00Am Prompt

Signed:

Kola Ologbondiyan,
Secretary, Publicity Sub-Committee and
National Publicity Secretary