Nigerian Concord Newspaper
This newspaper can authoritatively report plots by the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Senator George Akume to replace the name of Governor Hyacinth Alia with that of the Executive Secretary of the Nigerian Shippers Council, Mr. Pius Akutah as the governorship candidate of the Benue State chapter of All Progressive Congress, APC.
Recall that the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC set last week for political parties to officially upload their candidates for the 2027 Governorship and State House of Assembly elections on its portal.
Meanwhile, as a result of the unending leadership tussle between Senator George Akume and Governor Alia, the SGF made spirited efforts to substitute the governor’s name while the APC National Working Committee was uploading the party’s Governorship candidates across the country.
It was gathered that plan to remove Alia’s name for Akutah to be presented as the party’s candidate in Benue state caused a sharp division within the party’s National Working Committee as a group loyal to the governor raised a point that the SGF’s preferred candidate didn’t participate in the Screening exercise as well as the primaries of the ruling party in May, 2026.
The group which backs Alia within the National Working Committee however stated that Akutah obtained the party’s nomination forms but he later didn’t show any further interest by failing to resign from his position as the Executive Secretary of the NSC as directed by President Bola Tinubu that all federal appointees that were seeking elective offices should resign within a stipulated time.
Senator Akume according to findings approached the APC National Chairman, Professor Nentawe Yilwadta who actually discussed the idea of uploading Akutah’s name as the party’s candidate in Benue state.
During the hot debate at a session of the National Working Committee two weeks ago, the APC Deputy National Chairman (North), Hon. Dr. Ali Bukar Dalori, on realizing that Yilwadta was already having an upper hand stormed out of the meeting and moved straight to the Presidential Villa where he pointedly told President Tinubu’s Chief of Staff, Mr. Femi Gbajabiamila of the troubles the party would face if Akume was allowed to field Akutah who didn’t and hasn’t resigned from his position till today, and who also didn’t participate in the Screening and primaries as the party’s candidate in the forthcoming elections.
According to sources, after much deliberations, Gbajabiamila summoned all the members of the APC National Working Committee to an emergency meeting in the Villa before his foreign trip, and he reminded them of President Bola Tinubu’s decision to return all the sitting governors who legitimately won their primaries as candidates of the party.
This newspaper gathered that it was at the meeting that a strong signal was sent to the SGF to allow the APC National Working Committee upload the name of Governor Hyacinth Alia as the Governorship candidate of the party.
It was also gathered that the President’s Chief of Staff also threatened the APC national chairman with a serious sanction if he went ahead with his earlier plan to substitute Alia’s name for Akutah.
Speaking on the development, a top official of the Benue State chapter of All Progressive Congress who didn’t want to be mentioned said that the crisis between Alia and Akume could be traced to the SGF’s demand that a sum of N2billion and N200million should be monthly paid to him and his estranged wife respectively by the administration.
According to the official, the demand was made by Akume two months after Governor Hyacinth Alia was sworn-in as governor in 2023.