Former Benue State Governor Samuel Ortom has expressed no remorse for opposing Atiku Abubakar, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) presidential candidate, during the 2023 election, despite being a PDP member.
Ortom, part of the G5 group of five PDP governors, backed Bola Tinubu of the All Progressives Congress (APC) instead.
In a Channels TV interview on July 21, 2025, Ortom rejected claims of betraying his party, stating his decision prioritized the interests of his constituents over personal gain.
"I did not hide it. I have no regret, Which betrayal? Pursuing my interest and the interest of my people? The interest of my people is that you provide what they want.
"If you ask me, I would describe politics as a game of doing what your people want, not what I want. Politics is a game of interest, and if I have somebody working against my interest and the interest of my people, I have to fight back.”he said
Ortom said it was unheard of that a northerner, Muhammadu Buhari, was president for eight years and then another northerner in the person of Atiku would succeed him.
“We were preaching equity, fairness and justice. How can you explain to me that a northern won the presidency for eight years and another northern, from the same ethnic group, will win the presidency for another four years or eight years, as the case may be? 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.” he said
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