Nigerian Concord Newspaper
The Benue State APC Youth Vanguard has accused the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Senator George Akume of plotting to frustrate the winning chance of President Bola Tinubu in the state with his direct involvement in the doctoring of the State National Assembly candidates list.
The group in a press statement signed by its Chairman, Mr. Joseph Apine said that substituting the names of those who genuinely won the Benue APC National Assembly primaries with Akume’s aspirants was a plot by the SGF to ensure that President Bola Tinubu loses the state to the opposition in 2027.
According to the group, Senator George Akume is secretly working with the Presidential candidate of the National Democratic Congress, Mr. Peter Obi who he has secretly met several times, to secure victory during the 2027 general elections in Benue state.
The group pressed further that almost all the stakeholders, leaders and genuine members of the Benue State chapter of All Progressive Congress have decided not to vote for all the National Assembly candidates that were imposed on them by Senator George Akume.
The statement reads: “This will have a negative effect on the election of President Bola Tinubu as the same voters may decide to vote for any of the presidential candidates in the opposition parties.
“Benue people are known for voting out elected officials that betray or disconnect from them. Apart from few of them, almost all the National Assembly members from Benue State have disconnected from home. They have no single achievements for close to four years that they had been elected by their various constituents.
“How could the APC National Working Committee allow itself to be used by Senator George Akume who forced candidates who have failed those who put them in the positions they occupy at the National Assembly today on them as 2027 candidates of the same party.
“We are now authoritatively informing President Bola Tinubu and the APC National Working Committee led by Professor Nentawe Yilwadta that Senator George Akume is nursing a 2031 presidential ambition and that is why he wants to give Benue State to Peter Obi in 2027 even though he knows he cannot win the general elections. He wants to use Benue State to get support from the South East when he too runs for the presidency in 2031.
“We are also informing the president that his chances of winning in our state has been traded off by his SGF. The president may lose Benue State in 2027 and when that happens, the president should know who to hold liable for his failure.
“There is only one solution to this problem and that is returning the Benue APC National Assembly tickets to those that genuinely won the primaries in May, 2026.
“For instance, in Jechira, the name of Dr. Livinus Tsar who won the primaries with 28,549 votes was removed by Senator George Akume and the name of the incumbent, Rt. Hon. Sesoo Gboko who scored only 693 votes in both Konshisha and Vandekya local governments was submitted to the Independent National Electoral Commission.
“The same thing happened in Makurdi/Guma where the name of Dickson Tarkighir who lost the primaries was submitted to the INEC”
“We are also appealing to the president to call on the SGF to stop his interference with the cases in court so that the Judiciary can return the mandates to their original owners”