Samuel Ortom

Samuel Ioraer Ortom (listenⓘ; born 23 April 1961) is a Nigerian politician, businessman, administrator and philanthropist. He was a Minister of State Trade and Investments in Nigeria during the presidency of Goodluck Jonathan. Ortom was elected governor of Benue State as a member of the All Progressives Congress in 2015, though later defecting to the People's Democratic Party. He was re-elected as governor on 29 May 2019.[1][2][3] Ortom's tenure ended on 29 May 2023, succeeded by a Catholic priest of the opposition party, Rev. Fr. Hyacinth Iormem Alia.

Samuel Ioraer Ortom
18th Governor of Benue State
In office
29 May 2015 – 29 May 2023
Preceded byGabriel Suswam
Succeeded byRev. Fr. Hyacinth Alia
Federal Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment Nigeria
In office
11 July 2011 – 25 October 2015
Supervising Minister, Nigerian Federal Ministry of Aviation Nigeria
In office
14 February 2014 – 15 August 2014
Preceded byPrincess Stella Oduah-Ogiemwonyi
Succeeded byOsita Chidoka
Personal details
Born (1961-04-23) 23 April 1961
Guma LGA, Benue State, Nigeria
Political partyPDP

Background and education

Ortom was born 23 April 1961 in Guma Local Government Area of Benue State, Nigeria.[4][5] He attended St. John's Primary School, Gboko in 1970 but moved to St. Catherine's Primary School, Makurdi in 1974, completing his primary education in 1976. Chief Dr. Samuel Ioraer Ortom was admitted into Idah Secondary Commercial College, Idah in Kogi State in 1976. He did two years in the school before his father's retirement in 1979 ended his dream of completing formal secondary school education for financial reasons.[4] He became a professional driver.[6]

He later obtained the General Certificate of Education as well as the Diploma in Salesmanship. He enrolled at Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria and obtained both the Interim Joint Matriculation Board Certificate, in 1995 and the Diploma in Journalism in 1998. He later attended the Benue State University where he obtained an Advanced Diploma in Personnel Management in 2001 as well as a Master of Public Administration in 2004. Ortom earned a Ph.D., from the Commonwealth University, Belize, through distance learning.[7]

Political life

Ortom worked for different political parties in Benue State including the National Centre Party of Nigeria as State Publicity Secretary; State Treasurer of the All People's Party (APP); and State Secretary as well as State Deputy Chairman of the People's Democratic Party (PDP). He was also Director of Operations of the PDP gubernatorial campaign in Benue State in 2007 and Director of Administration and Logistics of the Goodluck/Sambo Presidential Campaign Organization in 2011. He was the PDP National Auditor before his appointment as Minister of the Federal Republic of Nigeria in July 2011.[8]

In April 2015, he contested for Governor of Benue State and won under the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC).[9][10][11]

In July 2018, Ortom announced his departure from All Progressives Congress as a result of an internal party crisis.[12]

In the 9 March 2019 Benue gubernatorial election and 23 March 2019 Benue State supplementary governorship election, Ortom was reelected as Governor having polled 434,473 votes while the runner up Emmanuel Jime of the All Progressive Congress polled 345,155 votes.[13] Following the election, Jime challenged Ortom's victory and filed a petition on the grounds of substantial noncompliance with the provisions of the Electoral Act, 2010 as amended. On 21 January 2020 the Supreme Court affirmed the election of Samuel Ortom as the governor of Benue State.[14]

Philanthropy

Through the establishment of Oracle Business Limited Foundation, Ortom has set aside funds in St. Theresa's Hospital, Makurdi and Rahama Hospital, Gboko Road, Makurdi, for treatment of hernia and snakebites free of charge to the patients.[15][16] The foundation also works to alleviate hardship for prison inmates, while also offering various forms of skills acquisition for better reintegration into the society. The Oracle Driving School is another outreach, which trains qualified drivers on a regular basis.[17]

Awards
Year Category Institution or publication ResultNotesRef.
2014 Selfless Service Award National Union of TarabaState Students (UniCal Chapter) Won Notes Citation

See also

References
  1. "It's Official: PDP's Samuel Ortom wins re-election as Benue governor |". 24 March 2019. Retrieved 24 March 2021.
  2. "Nigerians regret voting for Buhari, APC, says Ortom". The Guardian Nigeria News - Nigeria and World News. 21 January 2022. Retrieved 22 February 2022.
  3. "Samuel Ortom Archives - The Nation Newspaper". thenationonlineng.net. Retrieved 26 February 2022.
  4. Ayado, Solomon (26 September 2014). "Ortom, From Motor Park Tout To A Minister Of The Federal Republic". Leadership. Retrieved 4 October 2014.
  5. "Name list of Nigeria's new cabinet". People's Daily. Xinhua. 13 July 2011. Retrieved 4 October 2014.
  6. "News Forum – Celebrating Chief Dr. Samuel Ortom at 53". News Forum. Retrieved 26 October 2014.
  7. Agerzua, Tahav. "Celebrating Chief Dr. Samuel Ortom at 53". National Accord. Archived from the original on 6 October 2014. Retrieved 4 October 2014.
  8. "Benue at 46: Like Winston Churchill, like Samuel Ortom". TheCable. 4 February 2022. Retrieved 18 March 2022.
  9. "INEC Announces APC's Samuel Ortom as Winner of Benue Governorship Election". benue.com.ng. Retrieved 26 April 2015.
  10. "We Won't Rig April Elections – Ortom, PDP National Auditor". thenigerianvoice.com. Retrieved 26 October 2014.
  11. "PDP Presidential Primaries: Why PDP provided each state a ballot box- Ortom". Vanguard News. Retrieved 26 October 2014.
  12. Admin. "SAMUEL ORTOM 'DUMPS' APC; BECOMES 'FREE AGENT". News Echo. Retrieved 16 July 2018.
  13. Ayitogo, Nasir (24 March 2019). "It's Official: PDP's Samuel Ortom wins re-election as Benue governor". Premium Times. Retrieved 19 October 2019.
  14. "Supreme Court affirms Ortom's election as Benue governor". The Guardian Nigeria News - Nigeria and World News. 21 January 2020. Retrieved 3 February 2021.
  15. "Samuel Ortom – Ortom's Job Creation Initiatives". Samuel Ortom. Retrieved 26 October 2014.
  16. "Samuel Ortom – List of Treated Snake Bite Victims and Cost from 2010 – 2013". Samuel Ortom. Retrieved 26 October 2014.
  17. "Samuel Ortom – Oracle Driving School Trains 161 Drivers". Samuel Ortom. Retrieved 26 October 2014.
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