Former Benue State Governor Samuel Ortom says he has no regrets for opposing Atiku Abubakar’s presidential bid in 2023, despite Atiku being the candidate of their party, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
“I did not hide it. I have no regret,” Ortom said during an appearance on Politics Today, a Channels Television programme aired on Monday, July 21.
Ortom was a member of the G5, a group of five PDP governors who rejected Atiku’s candidacy and threw their support behind Bola Tinubu of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the 2023 election.
He dismissed claims that his actions were a betrayal of the party.
“Which betrayal?” Ortom asked. “Pursuing my interest and the interest of my people? The interest of my people is that you provide what they want.
“If you ask me, I would describe politics as a game of doing what your people want, not what I want.
READ ALSO: Ortom: I Opposed PDP in 2023 Over Betrayal of Equity, Justice
“Politics is a game of interest, and if I have somebody working against my interest and the interest of my people, I have to fight back.”
He argued that it was unfair for another northerner to succeed President Muhammadu Buhari, who ruled for eight years.
“We were preaching equity, fairness and justice. How can you explain to me that a northern won the presidency for eight years and another northern, from the same ethnic group, will win the presidency for another four years or eight years, as the case may be? Our democracy has not gotten to that level.
“We said no; it is in the unwritten constitution that the North will do eight years and the South will do eight years.
“So, we believed in a southern presidency and not a northern presidency. That was why some of us supported a southern presidential aspirant.”
Despite his past disagreements with the PDP leadership, Ortom made it clear he has no intention of leaving the party.