Suswam blasts ex-minister Ortom for defecting to APC

Governor Gabriel Suswam of Benue State on Tuesday condemned the defection of the former Minister of State for Trade, Investment and Industries, Mr Samuel Ortom, from the Peoples Democratic Party to the All Progressives Congress.

Suswam, who was fielding questions from State House correspondents in Abuja, frowned on those politicians moving from one party to another after failing to secure party nomination, saying such people had no principles and ideologies.

According to him, Ortom left the PDP unceremoniously despite the fact that he participated in the ‘most transparent’ PDP governorship primary but failed to secure the ticket.

Suswan said, “There is no conviction in ideology and so, people just swing. They change party the way we change our under garments and I find that very unfortunate.

“My minister has been a great beneficiary of the PDP. And the most transparent primaries were held in Benue, that is why no one is complaining about the primaries.

“They just want position and once they do not get it, they swing. So, I find that very unfortunate. That is why we are having the problem we are having with politics in Nigeria.

“The other parties just wait for the other parties to conduct primaries so that when they have problem, they will just take them in.

“If we continue to practise politics in that manner, I do not think that we can grow. We will not get anywhere because there is no philosophy behind what we do.

“People just swing, we are just operating like pendulum and then, if it does not work this way, there are people within this period that changed party twice.

“If they don’t get nomination in PDP, they will move to APC and if they do not get in APC, they will move to Labour; they go to APGA or they go to Accord Party. I don’t see us growing in terms of party democracy.”