A fresh supremacy battle has erupted within the Benue State chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) following the outright rejection of a newly constituted 500-man campaign council meant to mobilise support for President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and Governor Hyacinth Alia ahead of the 2027 general elections.
The rejection was made public by the Benue Strategic Alliance for Tinubu 2027, a political mobilisation platform closely aligned with the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Senator George Akume.
During an emergency meeting of the alliance’s conveners held in Abuja, the leadership formally disowned the campaign structure assembled by Governor Alia’s camp, exposing the deepening factional divide within the state’s ruling party.
Speaking through a joint press statement issued in Abuja by the group’s Director-General, Chief Akange Audu, and the Publicity Secretary/Administrative Officer, Hon. Dan-Morgan Ihomun, the alliance described the campaign council setup as fundamentally flawed and particularly contentious.
The spokespersons condemned the organisational layout for naming Governor Alia as the Chairman while relegating Senator George Akume, widely recognised as the founding leader and patriarch of the APC in Benue State, to mere ordinary membership status.
Addressing journalists, Hon. Dan-Morgan Ihomun alleged that since the party’s victory in the 2023 elections, the original party structures and foundational leaders associated with Senator Akume have been systematically sidelined by the Alia administration.
Chief Akange Audu emphasized that while the alliance remains fully committed to securing President Tinubu’s re-election bid in 2027, the platform will exclusively support APC National and State Assembly candidates who emerge through the recognized party leadership headed by Hon. Austin Agada.
This latest crisis comes on the heels of a failed peace initiative dispatched by the national leadership of the APC in late October 2026, which ended without a breakthrough after representatives of both factions failed to reach a compromise in Makurdi.
The outright rejection of the 500-man campaign council underscores a persistent, high-stakes battle for control over the party hierarchy ahead of the 2027 electoral cycle.
