Former Benue State Governor and prominent Peoples Democratic Party chieftain, Samuel Ortom, has dismissed the chances of success for the coalition-backed African Democratic Congress, declaring that he has no intention of leaving the PDP.
Speaking in an interview on Channels Television’s Politics Today on Monday, Ortom expressed strong doubts about the coalition’s viability, stating that it would struggle to withstand political pressures.
“People are free to join any coalition that they so wish, but for me, and the people that I lead, we remain in PDP,” Ortom said. “I’m the leader of PDP in Benue State and a member of the BoT (Board of Trustees). I am not joining any coalition. We have no business with that.”
He further dismissed the ADC’s prospects, saying: “I don’t see it surviving. In any case, even if they survive, if they are through with the litigation that is going on, they will be defeated hands down.”
Ortom’s remarks come amid ongoing political realignments ahead of the 2027 general elections, with some opposition figures exploring new alliances to challenge the dominance of the All Progressives Congress and the PDP.
The former governor also addressed criticism over his role in the PDP crisis before the 2023 elections, particularly his public opposition to the party’s presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar. Ortom insisted he had no regrets supporting the ruling party’s candidate, Bola Tinubu, over his own party’s nominee.
“How can you explain to me that a northerner won the presidency for eight years and another northerner, from the same ethnic group, will win the presidency for another four or eight years, as the case may be?” Ortom questioned.
He continued: “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.”
Ortom argued that it was unjust for former President Muhammadu Buhari, a northerner who ruled for eight years, to be succeeded by another northerner (Atiku). His stance had sparked controversy within the PDP, but he maintained that his position was based on the principle of rotational presidency.
