Nigerian Concord Newspaper
Benue APC Youth Vanguard has exposed plan by the members of Senator George Akume political family to stage a protest at the national Secretariat of the All Progressive Congress in Abuja in order to call for the removal of the party’s Unity Caretaker Committee chairman in Benue state, Chief Benjamin Omale.
According to the pressure group in a press statement signed by its chairman, Mr. Isaac Ikyange Esq this morning, over five thousand protesters have been scheduled to arrive Abuja from Nasarawa and Kogi states during this week to stage the protest.
Their duty according to the statement is to protest massively and accuse the National Chairman of the party, Alhaji Umar Ganduje of taking bribe from the governor of Benue state, Reverend Father Hyacinth Alia to further keep the Omale-led Unity Caretaker Committee in office for his benefits.
Mr. Ikyange noted in the press statement that the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Senator George Akume before his last trip out of Nigeria gave the assignment to the Executive Director, Finance and Accounts of the Federal Housing Authority, Mr. Matthias Byuan to foot the bill for the protest.
According to reports, each of the over five thousand protesters from Nasarawa and Kogi states is to be paid a sum of N25,000. “Imagine Byuan planning to waste over N125,000,000 million tax payers money which he sourced from the Federal Housing Authority on a protest to remove the Unity Caretaker Committee which has sustained peace and unity within the party in Benue state” Ikyange stressed in the statement.
“Apart from the N25,000 payment for each of the protesters, we have got official reports that they will also be lodged at different low cost hotels in Nyanyan, Kubwa, Maraba and Zuba areas of Abuja with tax payers money”
The Benue APC Youth Vanguard however called on President Bola Tinubu to quickly advise his appointees from Benue state so they won’t ruin his chance of reelection in the state in 2027.
Saying that Benue state gave the president the highest numbers of votes across the North Central in 2023, the group said that the actions from Senator George Akume and other federal appointees from Benue state are capable of making the president lose the state in 2027 if they aren’t quickly checked.
The group also called on the Umar Ganduje-led National Working Committee to ignore rantings from the enemies of Benue state who are hell bent on destabilizing the peace which the party has been enjoying since the Unity Caretaker Committee led by Benjamin Omale was put in place.
The group also called on the Inspector-General of Police, Mr. Egbetokun, the DSS and other related security agencies in Nigeria not to grant the protesters the permission they have sought for in order to carry out the said protest.
According to the group, the letter which the protesters under the umbrella of National APC Youth Council had written to the DSS and the Police where they described the protest as peaceful should be disregarded because they are being sponsored to cause crisis in the city of Abuja.
Benue APC Youth Vanguard said that granting such permission to the protesters by the Police and the DSS will amount to setting Abuja on fire as the protest may end up in a blood bathe.