From Rose Ejembi, Makurdi
A chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Alhaji Shehu Tambaya has advised former Presidential aide, Laureta Onochie to stop giving false narrative about the stand of Governor Ortom on the implementation of the National Livestock Transformation Plan, NLTP.
Tambaya gave the advice in a press statement on Friday in reaction to an ealier statement credited to Onochie that Governor Ortom supports RUGA because the State Government was listed as one of the states that applied for funds from the Federal Government for the purposes of establishing Ranches.
The Senior Special Assistant to Governor Samuel Ortom on Animal Husbandry, noted that his principal never supported RUGA or any other coinage brought by the federal government except the NLTP which to him, has inherent benefits for the state.
He added that his principal has been very vocal in rejecting all subtle plans by the federal government to grab land through the back door and has stuck to his conviction that ranching remains the best global method of animal husbandry.
He recalled how hundreds of Benue people have been killed and thousands of others still stuck in IDP camps after they were chased away from their ancestral homes since 2018 till date.
Tambaya who called on Onochie to be mindful of what she says maintained that the implementation of the Benue’s anti open grazing Law has to a great extent, helped in reducing the frequency of Herdsmen attacks in the state.
“And as you can see, that is why many states of the federation have now decided to queue behind Benue to enact the anti open grazing law and some have even commenced implementation already.”
He therefore, enjoined the former Presidential aide to focus on the fact that the law is a win-win for both farmers and herders and encourage the presidency to openly adopt same, instead of ‘using Ortom to warm her way back to the heart of the president.’