The former governor who also dismissed the reported exit of Benue state Governor, Samuel Ortom as a mere rumor, said Nigerians must come together with the same vigor they fought the Boko Haram insurgency to be able to defeat the menace of herdsmen killings rather than attaching ethnic and religious sentiments to the killings.
Responding to a question on the reported exit of the Benue state governor who alleged that he was pushed out of the party, Oshiomhole said the governor had assured him on several occasion that he will not be leaving the party, pointing out that if he has actually left, the party would need to study the situation before formally reacting to it.
He said: “I know that governor Ortom is a very senior member of the party and he has said so repeatedly in print and has said to me one on one basis that he will not leave the APC unless he was pushed out.
“I have since assumed chairmanship of this party along with my colleagues in the NWC and I know of a fact that we have not shut out any governor and certainly not governor Ortom.
“In these days of social media, I will not be responding on the basis of rumor and unverified reports. In fact, talking about unconfirmed sources, on Saturday, I was in Lagos to honour an appointment that had been booked for over the past six months and I felt obliged to honour that appointment and yet some of these merchants of untruth and fabricators of fake news posted all sorts of stories including one of which I was being interviewed in Ekiti.
“I was only there on Monday to address Labour leaders and on Tuesday, to participate in the grand finale of the campaigns of which Mr President was there and I left Ekiti that same day on the same aircraft as Mr President.”
Oshiomhole said the party is concerned about the rising wave of killings across the country, adding that security agents in the country must wake up and prove to the Nigerian people that they have the capacity to defend them and ensure the safety of lives and property.