… Urge Rep’s to overrule Speaker
By Titus Atondu, Makurdi
Benue State Governor, Samuel Ortom has expressed shock and Disney over ‘the rejection of a petition from the Mutual Union of Tiv in America (MUTA) by the Deputy Speaker House of Representatives Idris Wase , brought before him by the House of Representative member for Gwer/ Gwer West federal constituency Mark Gbillah.
The Governor also stated that the action of the House Deputy Speaker amounts to suppression of the people’s voice; a development which the Governor said has contravened the very principles upon which the country’s democracy is built.
In a Press Statement signed by Terver Akase, Chief Press Secretary to the Governor of Benue State and made available to Nigerian NewDirect on Wednesday, the Governor stressed that Nigerians home and abroad have a right as enshrined in the 1999 Constitution (amended) to express their feelings about affairs of their own country.
Ortom explained that he the condition of thousands of people who have been displaced from their ancestral homes as a result of herdsmen attacks and now live in camps in Benue State deserves the attention and support of other Nigerians and appreciated the Mutual Union of Tiv in America, as well as other concerned groups for their solidarity.
He pointed out that the Nigerians in Diaspora Commission was established to cater for the affairs of the country’s citizens living abroad, and wonder why anyone would now claim to be oblivious of the significant contributions Nigerians living in other countries make to their fatherland.
He commended Hon Mark Gbillah for his calm disposition despite Hon Wase’s utterances and urged the Gwer West representative not to be discouraged from championing causes in the interest of his people.
Ortom expected the House of Representatives to overrule the Deputy Speaker and accept the MUTA petition as well as patriotic concerns of other Nigerians bordering on state of the nation.
He equally called on the Nigerians in Diaspora Commission to intervene in the matter, in order to prevent a repeat of the ugly scenario in the future.