Former Benue State Governor Samuel Ortom has explained why he made his vehicle available to Peter Obi during the former Anambra governor’s recent visit to Benue, saying it would have been petty to refuse him.
The explanation comes amid a political controversy over Obi’s visit and allegations that Ortom helped facilitate the trip.
Obi travelled to Benue last Tuesday to visit Yelewata and sympathise with families affected by the June 2025 massacre.
His movement was disrupted after youths reportedly blocked his convoy around Gyado Villa in Makurdi.
The incident quickly became political.
The administration of Governor Hyacinth Alia alleged that Ortom was behind Obi’s visit.
The governor’s Chief Press Secretary, Kula Tersoo, said an investigation had linked the vehicle used to convey Obi from the Makurdi Airport to the former governor.
According to the state government, the vehicle was a Toyota Land Cruiser registered in Ortom’s name.
That revelation raised another question.
Ortom has publicly said he supports President Bola Tinubu for the 2027 presidential election, while Obi remains one of the major opposition figures positioning himself for the contest.
So why would a politician supporting Tinubu provide his vehicle for Obi? Ortom now has an answer.
‘It Would Have Been Petty’
Speaking through his media aide, Terver Akase, Ortom said lending the vehicle was simply an act of courtesy to a fellow political leader.
He argued that Obi is a former governor, a presidential candidate and one of Nigeria’s prominent political figures.
Refusing to assist him with transportation during a humanitarian visit, he said, would have been petty and beneath the dignity expected of a former governor.
Ortom also rejected attempts to turn the gesture into evidence of political collaboration. His position is straightforward: political differences should not make ordinary courtesy impossible.
That argument matters because the controversy is bigger than one vehicle.
Where Politics Enters the Picture
The dispute exposes how quickly ordinary political relationships can become evidence of something deeper in Nigeria.
Ortom supported Obi in the 2023 presidential election. He has since declared his support for Tinubu ahead of 2027.
That history makes the sight of Obi travelling in Ortom’s vehicle politically interesting, even if the former governor insists there was nothing more to it.
The Benue government, however, sees the matter differently. Its officials questioned why someone who says he supports Tinubu would assist another presidential candidate.
Ortom has dismissed that interpretation, describing the attempt to criminalise or politicise the gesture as misplaced.
The disagreement therefore comes down to a simple but important question: Can politicians help, respect or maintain relationships with one another without every gesture becoming an electoral signal?
Ortom believes they can.
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The Larger Benue Dispute
The vehicle controversy also cannot be separated completely from the events that brought Obi to Benue in the first place.Obi wanted to visit Yelewata, where hundreds of people were killed in a 2025 attack, and meet affected families.
His planned movement was disrupted in Makurdi, leading to accusations, counter-accusations and a fresh political quarrel between supporters of Alia and Ortom.Ortom had already condemned the blocking of Obi’s convoy, saying the former governor should have been allowed to visit the victims and sympathise with them.
The latest controversy has therefore added another political layer to an already sensitive visit.
For Ortom, however, the explanation remains simple. He says he lent his vehicle because refusing to help a visiting former governor and presidential candidate would have been petty.
Whether that settles the political argument is another matter.
But it does raise a broader question about Nigerian politics: must every act of courtesy between political rivals automatically be interpreted as an alliance?
