{"id":194219,"date":"2026-02-09T23:03:02","date_gmt":"2026-02-09T22:03:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/uncategorized\/i-never-defected-to-apc-ex-benue-gov-ortom"},"modified":"2026-02-10T00:10:22","modified_gmt":"2026-02-09T23:10:22","slug":"i-never-defected-to-apc-ex-benue-gov-ortom","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/parties\/i-never-defected-to-apc-ex-benue-gov-ortom","title":{"rendered":"I never defected to APC \u2013 Ex-Benue Gov, Ortom"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"color: #ff6600\"><strong>Africa-Press &#8211; Nigeria. <\/strong><\/span>Former Benue State Governor, Samuel Ortom, has denied defecting to the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC.<\/p>\n<p>Ortom, in a statement, through his Media Adviser, Terver Akase, described the report making the rounds as false and misleading.<\/p>\n<p>He said the report is a deliberate fabrication aimed at misleading the public and creating confusion about his political affiliation.<\/p>\n<p>He added that the claim was baseless and mischievous, alleging that it was the handiwork of individuals sponsored by political opponents unsettled by his continued relevance in Benue State politics.<\/p>\n<p>The immediate past governor alleged that the authors of the report went as far as producing a fake APC membership card, which they falsely attributed to Ortom and circulated online to give credibility to their claims.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis act is not only irresponsible but also exposes the depth of desperation among those behind it,\u201d the statement said, noting that the alleged defection exists only in the imagination of its promoters.<\/p>\n<p>Ortom reaffirmed his loyalty to the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, stressing that he remains \u201ca proud, committed, and influential member\u201d of the party.<\/p>\n<p>He also restated his position within the party, noting that he remains the leader of the PDP in Benue State and a respected member of the party\u2019s Board of Trustees, BoT.<\/p>\n<p><strong>For More News And Analysis About <span style=\"color: #ff6600\">Nigeria<\/span> Follow <span style=\"color: #ff6600\">Africa-Press<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Africa-Press &#8211; Nigeria. Former Benue State Governor, Samuel Ortom, has denied defecting to the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC. Ortom, in a statement, through his Media Adviser, Terver Akase, described the report making the rounds as false and misleading. He said the report is a deliberate fabrication aimed at misleading the public and creating confusion [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":194218,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[24,16],"tags":[254],"class_list":["post-194219","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-parties","tag-nigeria"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v26.1 (Yoast SEO v27.0) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>I never defected to APC \u2013 Ex-Benue Gov, Ortom - Nigeria<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Former Benue State Governor, Samuel Ortom, has denied defecting to the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC. 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