Garba Shehu accused Ortom of telling Benue residents that President Buhari wants to Islamise the state.
The Presidency has called on the Benue state Governor, Samuel Ortom to stop spreading hate.
According to Vanguard, presidential spokesman, Garba Shehu also called on the Benue Governor to pay his staff instead of causing division.
He accused Ortom of telling Benue residents that President Buhari wants to Islamise the state.
Shehu also described the Governor as
somebody that thrives by using division to distract people from his
inability to take care of workers’ welfare in Benue.
He said “It has been noted that the
governor has been visiting churches in the state where he falsely tells
congregations about President Buhari’s so-called plans to Islamise Benue
State.
“This nonsense has formed the basis of his campaign, because he has nothing to offer Benue people.
“This nonsense has formed the basis of his campaign, because he has nothing to offer Benue people.
“The allegations coming from Ortom were
particularly unfair, when one considers how much support the governor
received from the Federal Government, which supported his grazing laws
as a means to end the farmer-herder crises that have plagued the state.
“If not for President Buhari’s
insistence that the governor be given a chance to effect the law, he
would have faced resistance from different sources and found it
difficult to implement.
“While advising Ortom to immediately stop
his dubious attacks on President Buhari, the Federal Government calls on
the people of Benue State to not fall for Ortom’s deception and allow
themselves to be hoodwinked by such a negative campaign.
“They should instead, ask him why he has
refused to pay staff salaries and pensions for months, and what he did
with the funding from the excess crude account which should ideally have
gone towards addressing such payments.”
According to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), the governorship election is scheduled to hold on Saturday, March 2, 2019.