Ortom Reveals Who He Is Backing To Win 2027 Presidential Election

Former Benue State Governor, Chief Samuel Ortom, has dismissed reports claiming that he intends to support former Vice President Atiku Abubakar in the 2027 presidential election, reaffirming his position in favour of President Bola Tinubu’s re-election.

According to Vanguard, Ortom’s Media Assistant, Paul Zege, described the report as false in a statement issued on Monday. He said the claim, which was attributed to the International Centre for Transparency Nigeria (ICTN), was inconsistent with Ortom’s long-standing position on fairness, equity and justice in Nigeria’s political leadership.

Zege recalled that Ortom, alongside other members of the PDP’s G-5 governors, advocated for the rotation of presidential power to the South ahead of the 2023 election. He stressed that the former governor has not abandoned that principle.

He noted that Ortom maintained his position despite facing considerable political pressure and consequences in 2023, arguing that there was no basis for him to reverse that stance in 2026 because of an unverified report.

According to Zege, the G-5 governors’ decision was not motivated by personal disagreements with individual politicians. Rather, he said it was based on their belief that equity, inclusion, political stability and national unity required power to shift to the South after eight years of northern leadership under former President Muhammadu Buhari.

He argued that it would be contradictory for Ortom, who supported southern presidency in 2023, to now back the return of presidential power to the North just four years later.

Zege therefore maintained that Ortom has no plan to support Atiku or any other northern presidential aspirant in 2027, insisting that the presidency should remain in the South.

He further recalled that Ortom publicly endorsed Tinubu’s bid for another term during an engagement in Port Harcourt in 2024, saying the former governor’s position has remained consistent.

According to Zege, Ortom believes Tinubu should be allowed to continue in office because, in his assessment, the President has recorded progress and deserves the opportunity to complete his economic reforms and other development initiatives.