Benue state Governor, Samuel Ortom, yesterday said he will solicit God’s intervention early next whether to contest the state’s governorship re-election in 2019 or not.
The governor, who made this known in an interview with newsmen after a meeting with the Igede Positive Youth for Ortom 2019, who came to visit him at the Benue People’s House, noted that he would not contest if God says no, but that nobody will defeat him if God permits that he should contest.
“I will begin prayers by December to ask God whether I should still run for second term in 2019, and declare my intention by the beginning of next year.
“If God does not want me to contest for 2019, I will let you know, but if He wants me to contest, I will and nobody will defeat me.”
Ortom also dismissed claims by Federal Road Maintenance Agency (FERMA) that it was the agency that fixed the bad spots along Makurdi-Lafia road, which caved in following last week flooding.
It could be noted that FERMA had mounted its signpost at the failed portion of the road in Yelwata in Guma local government area of Benue state soon after it was fixed and attributed the work done to the agency.
The governor said he was surprise to learn that FERMA was claiming to had repaired the road, saying: “FERMA has proofed over the years to be ineffective, I am surprise to hear they are claiming that they fixed the bad portion of the road, but the repair was done at the expense of the state government”, he said.
The governor explained that soon after it got to his notice that the road had broken down occasioned by the flood, he immediately directed the state’s Commissioner for Works, Transport and Energy, Emmanuel Manger, to engage contractors working within the state to effect the repairs.
According to him, it was on that account that TRIACTA Construction Company, which was handling one of the state’s projects close to the area of the failed portion of the road was contracted to immediately carry out the rehabilitation as its corporate social responsibility to make it motorable again.
