Nobel Laureate, Prof. Wole Soyinka has said that Benue State Governor, Samuel Ortom does not deserve the kind of persecution he is getting for dumping the All Progressives Congress (APC) for the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
Soyinka made this known in a letter he penned to the governor, The Punch reported.
Soyinka said that Ortom had the moral right to decamp from the party given the high level of insensitivity displayed by the APC during Fulani herdsmen killings in the state.
He urged Ortom to remain resolute in his stance despite the “persecution”.
The octogenarian charged the APC to respect the governor’s decision as he is guaranteed freedom of association by the 1999 constitution.
“ As a leader of a people who took much of the earliest brunt of unleashed herdsmen savagery and cried in vain for help , you have a moral right to seek the promise of an alternative haven of security for your people .
“ They remain your primary responsibility . We are all free to cavil over the actual choice of an alternative destination , but no one can deny the inalienable entitlement to such action, especially where provoked by disillusionment and a sense of impotence under existing association .
“ Coincidences are, by their very nature, suspect, and I certainly perceive the beginnings of a heavy – handed campaign of reprisals from ruling circles over your political decision .
“ This bodes ill for the nation . It goes beyond any immediately-affected state and alerts us all to fascistic threats against a common democratic destination, and the basic right of free choice of political paths towards its attainment .
“ I can only urge you , therefore , to take heart , and remain resilient , unbowed , and undeterred. ”
Before dumping the APC in July, Ortom had accused the party of giving him a “red card”.