…You ‘re suffering a concerning memory lapse, your lies justifies gross ingratitude, says PDP
Former Speaker of the Benue State House of Assembly and 2023 governorship candidate of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), Rt. Hon. Titus Uba, has dumped the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) and defected to the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) to work with Governor Hyacinth Alia.
Rt. Hon. Uba, who was Ortom’s preferred candidate to succeed him against Alia, alleged that the PDP abandoned him to his fate when he took ill.
However, both Uba and Alia hail from Vandeikya Local Government Area of the state.
Uba’s claim of been neglected by the Ortom-led PDP, according to analysts, is a total contradiction from his earlier claim during several campaign outings in a viral video where he (Uba) disclosed that he had a health challenge but “It was Ortom who rose to the challenge”, and subjected him to the best medical attention both at home and abroad.
But the former Speaker, in a viral video of his defection to the APC said it was Governor Alia who catered for him throughout the period hence the need for him to dump the umbrella party and join the governor in the broom party.
“When I was sick, Governor Alia kept sending people to me. On Christmas day, he called me on phone to come to Government House. When we were eating, Suwam told me it’s the governor that called me to come.
“When we were going out, he said I should sit down there, my brother, Governor Alia, would come and talk to me. When Governor Alia came, he asked me whether I was able to visit home for Christmas.
“I said no, I didn’t go. I would love to go for New Year but my legs are no longer strong on the ground. He said Uwu! Eyaa; he would support me to go and see my kinsmen.
“It’s that support that enabled me to come and stand here and talk to you today. This thing has shocked me,” Uba said.
He added: “When I was sick while I was in the other political party, nobody cared, nobody bothered to ask me; Uba, how are you doing?
“It was my brother Alia, who went and rented the highest place, a big house for me in Abuja where I was staying and receiving treatment.
He also arranged people to be cooking for me there until I finished everything and came back to Benue State. I’m saying this with tears.
“Therefore, today, I am telling you that I have come back to join my brother, Alia. All of you should follow me because you once asked me to tell you where I was facing so that you would follow”, Uba noted.
Reacting swiftly to the ex-speakers claims, the state chapter of the PDP said Uba’s utterances lucidly depicts someone who is ‘suffering a concerning memory lapse’, adding that he is only ‘telling lies designed to justify gross ingratitude to the party’.
In a widely circulated statement by its State Secretary, Comrade Dan Nyikwagh, the PDP regretted Uba’s comments which it described as unfortunate and indeed “Coming from one who has not only benefited immensely from the party, but are also a fabrication of lies designed to justify his gross ingratitude”.
“For the record, Rt. Hon. Uba’s claim that no member of the PDP contacted him during his illness is utterly false. Either the former Speaker is suffering from a concerning memory lapse, or he is being deliberately mischievous”.
“Let us remind him that he fell ill in 2022, and from that moment, the PDP, under the leadership of then-Governor Chief Samuel Ortom, did not abandon him.
Chief Ortom ensured that he received the best care possible. He was first stabilized in Abuja and then flown to Germany for specialist treatment, an intervention that cost over N300 million.
“Benue people will recall the arrangements made for Uba’s treatment abroad and the welcome party organized by the PDP upon his return.
“While he was away, elements within the state sought to substitute him as the gubernatorial candidate of our party, citing his health condition. It was Chief Ortom who stood firmly behind Uba, insisting that he remained our flagbearer against all odds.
“This was years after Chief Ortom had earlier facilitated Uba’s first party ticket on the platform of the APC, later made him Speaker, returned him for a second term as Speaker, and championed his gubernatorial bid.
“Even after the loss of the 2023 election, the party stood by Uba through his election petition, up to the Supreme Court in January 2024”.
“It is, therefore, both shocking and disgustingly ungrateful that Uba now chooses to publicly prioritize and eulogize Governor Hyacinth Alia merely for renting for him an apartment in Abuja, while overlooking a lifetime of support, mentorship, and immense personal sacrifice from Chief Ortom, stressing however that his exit is good riddance.
