Benue APC Rift Deepens Over Tinubu’s 2027 Re-election

Benue APC Rift Deepens Over Tinubu’s 2027 Re-election

By Aloysius Chiahemba, Makurdi

For APC supporters in Benue State, backing President Bola Ahmed Tinubu in 2027 may come with an unexpected political choice: whether to also support Governor Hyacinth Alia for a second term.

That question is at the centre of an escalating power struggle within the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) in the state, as two rival camps disagree over who should control the party’s mobilisation machinery ahead of the 2027 general elections.

The disagreement has pitted loyalists of Governor Alia against supporters of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Senator George Akume, over the formation of the Benue Strategic Alliance for Tinubu/Shettima 2027.

While the Alia camp views the alliance as a calculated attempt to undermine the governor’s re-election ambition, Akume’s loyalists insist that support for President Tinubu should not be made conditional on supporting the governor.

The latest exchange of accusations followed a press briefing by the Director-General of the Tinubu/Alia 2027 Campaign Council in Benue State, Hon. Citizen Richard Asema, who openly rejected the emergence of the rival alliance.

Addressing journalists at the campaign secretariat in Makurdi on Friday, 13 November 2026, Asema described the coalition as a threat to the electoral fortunes of the APC, alleging that its real intention was to weaken Governor Alia’s chances of securing a second term.

He questioned the composition of the alliance, particularly its reported inclusion of governorship candidates from opposition parties, including the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and Labour Party (LP).

Asema also named Senator Akume, Minister of Water Resources and Sanitation, Professor Joseph Utsev, members of the National Assembly, party chieftains and other prominent federal government officials among those associated with the initiative.

According to him, the APC leadership in Benue, under Governor Alia and the state chairman, Hon. Benjamin Omale, had rejected the arrangement.

He argued that the party already had an established campaign structure, comprising more than 900 leaders and stakeholders, inaugurated on 5 November at IBB Square, Makurdi.

Asema expressed concern that some individuals appointed to the campaign council had subsequently indicated their unwillingness to participate, alleging that their decision was part of an attempt to frustrate the governor’s re-election campaign.

To reinforce his argument that the APC remained electorally strong in Benue, he cited the party’s performance in the 2023 elections, when it won the governorship seat, two of the three senatorial seats, 10 of the 11 House of Representatives seats and secured 27 of the 32 seats in the state House of Assembly.

He also pointed to the 23 local government chairmen and elected councillors across the state’s 276 wards as evidence of the party’s grassroots strength.

Asema attributed the governor’s political standing to achievements in infrastructure, education, industrial development and workers’ welfare.

He particularly highlighted the recruitment of 9,700 teachers, regular payment of salaries and pensions, settlement of outstanding arrears and the establishment of medium- and large-scale industries.

The campaign council consequently called on APC members involved in the strategic alliance to withdraw and return to the party’s mainstream leadership under Governor Alia.

But the Akume camp has rejected the allegations, describing them as political blackmail designed to frustrate efforts to mobilise support for President Tinubu.

In a strongly worded statement titled ‘Benue APC Crisis: Stop the Political Blackmail; Allow Us to Work for Tinubu’, the Director-General of the Benue Strategic Alliance for Tinubu/Shettima 2027, Chief Akange Audu, described Asema’s claims as unfortunate, misleading and politically counterproductive.

Audu maintained that the alliance was neither a political party nor a faction seeking to take over the APC, but a mobilisation platform created to bring together estranged APC members, opposition politicians and other stakeholders willing to support President Tinubu’s re-election.

He argued that supporting the President should not automatically translate into endorsing Governor Alia’s second-term ambition, insisting that both political objectives could be pursued independently.

According to him, the presidential election represents a broader national political contest that should accommodate people with different political interests and affiliations, including those who do not support the governor.

Audu further alleged that elected APC executive council members at state, local government and ward levels had been unilaterally dissolved by Governor Alia, claiming that many of those affected were now associated with the alliance.

He listed the three senators representing Benue, 10 members of the House of Representatives and several state lawmakers among the political stakeholders supporting the initiative.

The alliance chief also maintained that many of its members had contributed to Governor Alia’s emergence in 2023 but remained politically loyal to Senator Akume, whom he described as the leader of Benue politics.

Audu disclosed that the alliance had established a Tinubu/Shettima 2027 Joint Campaign Council with more than 1,000 members drawn from estranged APC members, opposition parties and various support groups.

Rather than interpreting the initiative as a threat, he urged the governor’s campaign team to see it as an opportunity to expand the President’s support base in Benue.

“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,” Audu stated.

He warned against using the President’s re-election ambition to intimidate political stakeholders, insisting that individuals should be free to make their political choices and associate with groups of their preference.

Audu also dismissed suggestions that the alliance would dissolve after the presidential election, explaining that the coalition had wider electoral interests, including supporting its members seeking elective positions in the 2027 elections.

He maintained that the group was not interested in the APC’s internal leadership struggles but was determined to provide a platform for its members to pursue their political ambitions.

The unfolding confrontation exposes a deeper struggle over political control, loyalty and succession within the Benue APC, with the interests of the President’s re-election campaign increasingly entangled with the governor’s second-term ambition.

For party supporters and political stakeholders in the state, the central question is no longer simply how to return Tinubu to Aso Rock in 2027, but whether that objective can be achieved without first resolving the battle for political supremacy within the ruling party in Benue.

With neither camp showing signs of backing down, the dispute could test the APC’s ability to present a united front in a state where its presidential and governorship electoral interests are now at the centre of a growing internal confrontation.