Akume, Alia camps clash over Tinubu campaign in Benue

The crisis in the Benue State chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) has widened, with rival camps loyal to Governor Hyacinth Alia and Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), George Akume, trading accusations over separate campaign structures for President Bola Tinubu’s re-election.

The latest disagreement followed allegations by the Director-General of the Tinubu-Alia 2027 Campaign Council, Richard Asema, that Mr Akume, Minister of Water Resources, Joseph Utsev, and other senior APC figures were working with opposition politicians under the Benue Strategic Alliance for Tinubu-Shettima 2027.

Mr Asema made the allegation on Friday in Makurdi while addressing journalists about the campaign council’s activities.

He accused the alliance of attempting to undermine Governor Alia’s political leadership in the state, despite publicly declaring support for President Tinubu’s re-election.

The Tinubu-Alia campaign council also said some members of the alliance had earlier been appointed to its 900-member structure before withdrawing to join the rival platform.

But the Director-General of the Benue Strategic Alliance, Akange Audu, rejected the allegations, describing them as political blackmail.

In a statement dated 14 November, Mr Audu said the alliance was an independent political mobilisation platform established to bring together estranged APC members and politicians from other parties who support Mr Tinubu’s re-election.

He said the group was neither an APC faction nor a platform seeking to take over the party’s structures.

“It is important to distinguish between supporting President Tinubu and supporting Governor Alia. These are two different political choices, and one should not be made a condition for the other,” he said.

Mr Audu said the alliance had established a joint campaign council with more than 1,000 members drawn from different political groups.

He also claimed that its support base included the three senators representing Benue State, 10 members of the House of Representatives and several members of the state House of Assembly.

The alliance said its members included APC stakeholders who remained loyal to Mr Akume despite being sidelined from the party’s mainstream structure under Governor Alia.

It challenged the governor’s campaign council to concentrate on its own mobilisation rather than accuse other groups supporting the president.

“President Tinubu needs every genuine support base available to him in Benue State. The existence of different mobilisation platforms should be seen as an opportunity to expand his electoral fortunes, not as a source of division,” Mr Audu said.

The disagreement reflects a wider leadership struggle within the Benue APC that has produced competing claims over the party’s structures.

On 4 March, factions aligned with Governor Alia and Mr Akume held parallel state congresses in Makurdi, producing rival executive committees.

Mr Alia’s faction returned Benjamin Omale as state chairman at a congress held at IBB Square, while the Akume-aligned faction affirmed the Austin Agada-led executive committee for another four-year term.

Although both camps declared their congresses peaceful and in line with party procedures, neither the APC national leadership nor the Independent National Electoral Commission had issued a formal position on the rival executives at the time of the report.

In a separate statement dated 3 November, the Benue Strategic Alliance also disowned a purported publication listing its conveners, Senator Jack Tilley-Gyado and Elder Simon Shango, among members of a campaign structure for Governor Alia.

The alliance said the publication did not reflect its recognised leadership and membership.

It also questioned the designation of Governor Alia as chairman of the purported campaign structure, with Mr Akume listed merely as a member.

The alliance maintained that it remained committed to mobilising support for President Tinubu and selected APC candidates for the National Assembly and state House of Assembly.

The latest disagreement raises questions about the ability of the Benue APC to manage its internal divisions as political mobilisation for the 2027 general elections gathers momentum.