Nigerian Concord Newspaper
It’s no longer news that the Benue state chapter of All Progressive Congress is engulfed with crisis as a result of who is the leader of the party between the state governor, Reverend Father Hyacinth Alia and the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Senator George Akume but the uncertainty is if the crisis will be resolved as political parties are now warning up for the next general elections.
Immediately he became governor on May 29, 2023, Reverend Father Hyacinth Alia made it clear that he would not succumb to any form of godfatherism which is basically why many governors don’t really perform well in office.
By extension, Father Hyacinth Alia took charge of the party structure as its leader being the most senior elected official of the All Progressive Congress in Benue state.
This didn’t go down well with Senator George Akume’s political family members who believed that as the SGF, he should be the supreme leader of the All Progressive Congress in Benue state.
Being the SGF, Senator Akume was able to use his influence to bring the Austin Agada-led State Executive Council to his side. He controlled the party structure as a result of the supports he enjoyed from over 90% of the Benue State National Assembly Caucus led by Senator Titus Zam, PhD.
Not willing to surrender his leadership to Senator Akume, the governor, Reverend Father Hyacinth Alia threw his weight behind the Benjamin Omakolo- led faction which operated a parallel Secretariat in Makurdi, the capital of Benue state.
With Governor Alia controlling the Omakolo-led factions and Senator Akume leading the Austin Agada-led faction, the entire party in Benue state was thrown into a serious crisis.
To resolve the logjams, the National Working Committee of the All Progressive Congress led by a former governor of Kano State, Umar Abdullahi Ganduje resolved by factions led by Agada and Omakolo, and immediately constituted a Unity Caretaker Committee led by Chief Benjamin Omale.
Omale, a silent and staunch supporter of the Benue APC and Grand Patron of Asiwaju Bola Tinubu support groups in the state came on Board last year and has since then been a unifying factor of the party in the state.
A member of the APC NWC said: “Since Omale became chairman of the Caretaker Committee, he has been moving round with the help of Father Hyacinth Alia to stabilize the party with his wealth of experience. As a result of his stabilizing efforts, he was able to sell forms and conduct primary elections for the last Local Government election in the state without a protest from any aspirant.
“Under his (Omale) watch, the Benue APC won in all the twenty three local governments as well as all the council wards across the state in the local government elections. So we in the NWC are happy with his leadership of the Unity Caretaker Committee.
“Also, based on our findings, Father Alia has won the minds of all the members of the party in Benue state and it’s on record that they are solidly behind him as the leader of the party in the state”
The Ganduje-led National Working Committee gave full supports to the Omale-led Unity Caretaker Committee by selling the agenda behind the Constitution to President Bola Tinubu who in return gave his full backing in order not to lose Father Alia to one of the opposition parties in Benue.
At a point, President Bola Tinubu issued a matching order to Senator George Akume to use his experience as a seasoned politician to resolve the crisis within the Benue APC without pulling down the already established structure of Governor Alia. Recall that the governor controls the Omale-led Unity Caretaker Committee.
According to those in the know, President Bola Tinubu is being careful and doesn’t want to lose Benue state in 2027, so he preferred to have Alia lead Benue state APC while Senator Akume maintains his job in Abuja as the SGF.
Till today, power brokers within the Presidency including President Tinubu himself are backing the Omale-led Caretaker Committee with the hope that it will be a rallying point for the president in 2027.
Also the Ganduje-led National Working Committee of the party has made it known severally that Father Alia is the leader of the party in Benue state. The NWC has always said too that the Omale-led Unity Caretaker Committee stands for as long as it wishes to go on with its duties to stabilize the party.
With these open proclamations by the Presidency and the APC NWC, the leadership of the party in Benue state has rested on Governor Alia and Chief Benjamin Omale.
Few days ago, the dissolved chairman of APC in Benue state, uninvited, attended a North-Central meeting of the party, and immediately after the meeting, some members of the National Working Committee of the APC told reporters that Agada had no reason to be at the meeting since he is no longer being recognized as the state chairman.
“Why would Comrade Austin Agada attend this meeting and paraded himself as the Benue APC Chairman? The recognized chairman of the party in Benue state is Chief Benjamin Omale whose matter we had presented to the President” a tope member of the NWC said.