Benue State Governor Samuel Ortom on Thursday urged the Presidency to address the issues he raised in his interview with Channels Television on Wednesday instead of attacking him.

Reacting to a statement by the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Mallam Garba Shehu, the governor said the Presidency’s accusation that he was fanning the ember of discord among Benue State residents was untrue.

A statement in Makurdi, the Benue State capital, by his Chief Press Secretary (CPS), Terver Akase, said: “We read the statement by the Presidency in response to Governor Ortom’s recent interview on Channels Television in which he raised a number of concerns bordering on the worsening security situation across the country.

“The tone of the statement shows the quality of Presidency Nigeria currently has. They abandoned the message and went for the messenger…”

“We advise the Presidency to focus on ending the killing of innocent Nigerians, fix the economy, as it promised, and stop the corruption under their watch.

“They can’t run away from their responsibility. They were brought to power to serve the country, not to oppress the people and suppress their freedom of speech. They are on record to have publicly promised during their campaigns before the 2015 elections that they would respect the rights and freedoms of Nigerians, if elected.”

The Nation