Nigerian Concord Newspaper
A former governor of Benue State who is also an aspirant of the All Progressive Congress for Benue Northeast Senatorial Zone, Senator Gabriel Torwua Suswam has allegedly hijacked the structure of the All Progressive Congress in the state from the governor of the State, Reverend Father Hyacinth Alia and one of the governor’s close ally, Prince Moses Ternenge.
Suswam made the boast this evening while in a private meeting with his top loyalists as a result of his reported early lead in today’s senatorial primaries of the All Progressive Congress.
Recall that Suswam is running against the incumbent senator of the zone, Barrister Emmanuel Udende who defeated him in 2023.
A credible source at the meeting stated that Suswam and his loyalists claimed that the former governor has forcefully taken the Senate slot away from Kwande despite spirited efforts by Moses Ternenge that the Senate seat was for Kwande and not Sankera.
The source said: “Oga (Suswam) has taken over the structure of the Benue APC with the results that have been released so far. This has ended the reigns of both Governor Hyacinth Alia and Moses Ternenge.
“Once Oga returns to the Senate, he will be in charge of the ruling party in Benue state as he will be dealing directly with President Bola Tinubu and the Aso villa cabals in Abuja. This alone has rendered Alia and Ternenge powerless.
“With the results, can’t you see that we have floored Ternenge despite that he is the one that rules over Governor Alia? Yes, we have floored him and this simply means that Suswam has hijacked the structure of the party in the state”
Recall that there was a power tussle between Suswam and Ternenge last month over the Benue Northeast Senate slot.
While Ternenge was mounting pressure on Governor Hyacinth Alia to Concede the ticket to Kwande because the axis has never produced senator since the creation of Benue State, Senator Suswam was insisting that he must go for another term in the Senate with claims that Sankera axis which has produced senators for sixteen years should still produce senator in 2027.