By Rose Onda
The Chief of Air Staff, Air Marshal Oladayo Amao has ordered the suspension of the Air Force officer who barred Benue State Governor Samuel Ortom from accessing the Makurdi Air Force Base on Saturday. On hearing about the occurrence, the Chief of Air Staff suspended the officer (whose identity has not been revealed) and assigned a new air officer to take command, according to sources.
On Saturday morning, Ortom was at the Air Force base to greet Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, who was travelling from Abuja to Taraba State to represent the President as a visitor at the Federal University in Wukari.
The Governor of Benue State, on the other hand, was denied entry to the facility, despite a standard routine of alerting state governors when the President or Vice President visited or passed through their territories. When Ortom received such a protocol alert, he decided to meet the VP in transit personally. He was taken aback by the fact that he had been stopped, and he quickly spoke to the press about it, which went viral online. According to sources close to the Governor, he also complained to federal officials, including the Vice President, who was startled by the Air Force officer’s actions and requested an explanation. The Chief of Air Staff ordered the officer to be suspended as a result of this. Governor Ortom eventually returned to the base and received the Vice President upon his return from Taraba. According to reports, Air Force security prevented Ortom from greeting the VP when he was in transit through Makurdi. Governor Ortom later told journalists at Government House Makurdi that the air force officer’s actions were “inappropriate, a breach of protocol, and politics carried too far.”