By Emmanuel Zahan
There is one poorly written piece by an apologist of Senator Gabriel Suswam being circulated on social media with the caption “What is Senator Gabriel Torwua Suswam wrong”. The write-up has sought to whip up sentiments against former Benue State Governor, Samuel Ortom whom the writer has painted as an aggressor that does not want the progress of Senator Suswam.
To go straight to the issue, the anonymous writer should recast the title of the piece to read thus “What is Ortom’s offense to Suswam?” This is because if anyone has been unfair to Chief Samuel Ortom in his political journey without any justification, such a person is Senator Suswam.
I believe many people will remember the infamous statement by the then Governor Suswam and his cronies in 2014 before the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) governorship primary election “I don’t know who will win the 2015 election, but the person I know that will not win is Ortom.” That was the level of hatred Suswam and his followers had against Ortom who had resigned from his position as Federal Minister to contest the Benue governorship.
Flashback to the 2006 PDP governorship process in Benue State. Some of those writing today on social media were too young to understand the circumstances that produced Suswam, but the older generation who were active participants and watchers of the events at that time will recall vividly that it took the relentless efforts of Chief Ortom and a few others to make Suswam the PDP gubernatorial flag-bearer. For two days during the primary election, Ortom did not sit or even have time to go and freshen up, just to ensure that Suswam emerged victorious. Ultimately, his efforts paid off and Suswam was declared the winner.
Suswam successfully did two terms with the likes of Ortom again standing solidly behind him despite the ‘Ugbah Nyor Ishor Chenji’ Tsunami of 2011 which was like an overwhelming sea tide against the 2nd term bid of Governor Suswam. But as the Maradona and self-acclaimed black cat that he is, Suswam began to betray his genuine supporters, especially Ortom who by this time had indicated interest to run for the office of governor in 2015. That was when Suswam began to make the unfortunate comment of “I don’t know who will win the 2015 election, but the person I know that will not win is Ortom.” And true to his words and deeds, he manipulated the primary election in favour of Terhemen Tarzoor against more popular aspirants such as Ortom and Steven Lawani.
Ortom refused to be discouraged by the ill treatment he received from Suswam and left to join the All Progressives Congress (APC) on whose platform he defeated Suswam’s candidate Tarzoor in a landslide victory during the 2015 election. Suswam himself woefully lost his Senatorial election.
The writer also alleged that Governor Ortom caused the arrest and detention of Suswam by the Department of State Services (DSS). This is another lie from the pit of hell. Suswam knows that he was the architect of his own arrest, not Ortom or anyone else.
DSS made it clear when they arrested Suswam in 2017 that they found sophisticated weapons in his possession. The secret security service, in a statement as reported by the media said the arrest was based on the operation carried out in Suswam’s house, number 44 Aguiyi Ironsi Way, Maitama, Abuja.
The DSS said “during the search, in the presence of two private security officers employed by Dunes Investment, the ex-governor’s cars were also searched and some items, including a Glock pistol with two magazines and 29 rounds of ammunition were recovered. Other items recovered from Suswam’s residence included a Mini-Uzi with two magazines containing 10 rounds and four rounds respectively; 42 extra rounds of ammunition in a pack; one AK-47; 21 Certificates of Occupancy (C of Os) and one offer of statutory right of occupancy; 23 luxury watches; and 45 keys to various cars.”
The question now is, did Ortom put the sophisticated weapons and other items in Suswam’s house?
The writer of the poorly written piece also claimed that it was Suswam who brought Ortom back to PDP and gave him the platform to seek his 2nd term in 2019. That is another fat lie! Contrary to the claim, the fact is that Suswam stoutly fought against Ortom’s move back to PDP in 2018. The moment he sensed that Ortom was meeting with PDP National Chairman Uche Sekondus, former Rivers Governor Nyesom Wike, the then Senate President Bukola Saraki and other heavyweights in PDP who wanted Ortom to return to the party that he built many years ago, Suswam became angry and restless. He moved quickly to block the move but failed.
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What Suswam’s apologists are failing to admit is that it was Governor Ortom’s return to PDP that helped Suswam to win the 2019 Senatorial election. The popularity of Ortom and his goodwill spread across the 23 local government areas and was so huge that PDP won all the three Senatorial seats, 90% of the House of Representatives seats and 95% of the Benue State Assembly seats. It was Ortom’s massive success that also helped Atiku Abubakar to win Benue State in the 2019 presidential election.
That was Ortom doing Suswam another unmerited favour despite Suswam betraying on two previous occasions.
More shocking was the fact that despite giving Suswam the Senate ticket and providing him with support during the 2019 campaigns, Suswam was still campaigning against Governor Ortom ahead of the election. He didn’t want Ortom to win a 2nd term. He told a good number of his close associates that Ortom would not win the 2019 election. But his wish failed yet again! Ortom won resoundingly, despite the federal might of the Buhari government.
As the leader of the party in the state, if Governor Ortom had anything against Suswam before the 2023 elections, he would have denied the Zone A Senator the ticket like he did to him back in 2014 but heavens would not have fallen! Don’t forget that the Zone A ticket was to be for Kwande not Sankera. Govenror Ortom did not only give Suswam the ticket; he also gave him massive support to go round and campaign. Ortom himself personally campaigned for Suswam in all the 7 local governments of Benue North East Senatorial District.
While this was going on, Suswam was secretly plotting against Ortom’s Senate bid in Zone B. He was also secretly meeting with Rev Fr Hyacinth Alia, the APC governorship candidate. Suswam preferred Terkaa Ucha to be the PDP candidate but Ortom favoured Speaker Uba so Suswam worked against the interest of PDP in the governorship election. But in doing that, he also shot himself in the foot. He lost the election woefully to Senator Emmanuel Udende. But Ortom had done his best for him to win.
We needed to put these facts and records straight so that some mischief makers will stop misleading the public. Suswam has never done Ortom any political favour. If any of his followers wants to debunk this statement, they should do so with evidence.
