The Benue All Progressives Congress (APC) Campaign Council has rejected the purported formation of a strategic alliance for the re-election of President Bola Tinubu and Vice-President Kashim Shettima in 2027, describing it as a plot against Gov. Hyacinth Alia’s re-election.
Mr Richard Asema, Director-General of the Tinubu/Alia 2027 Campaign Council in Benue, stated this at a news conference on Friday in Makurdi.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that some APC members loyal to Sen. George Akume, alongside prominent stakeholders from other political parties, recently inaugurated a strategic alliance campaign council for the re-election of Tinubu and Shettima in 2027.
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NAN also reports that the alliance comprises a faction of the APC, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Labour Party (LP) and other opposition parties.
Prominent opposition figures associated with the alliance include former Gov. Samuel Ortom, PDP governorship candidate, Chief Michael Aondoakaa (SAN), and LP governorship candidate, Mr Matthias Ibyuan, among others.
Asema expressed concern that some APC members, including senior Federal Government officials, had aligned with opposition politicians under the purported alliance.
He specifically mentioned the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Sen. George Akume, and the Minister of Water Resources and Sanitation, Prof. Joseph Utsev, as being associated with the alliance.
He said a review of the membership of the purported campaign council showed that it included governorship candidates of opposition parties, particularly the PDP and LP.
According to him, the Benue APC, under the leadership of Gov. Hyacinth Alia and the state chairman, Mr Benjamin Omale, strongly rejected the alliance and its campaign council.
Asema alleged that the group had a hidden agenda to undermine Alia’s re-election bid in 2027 while presenting itself as supporting Tinubu’s second-term ambition.
He recalled that the state APC had earlier constituted a campaign council comprising more than 900 party leaders, which was inaugurated on Nov. 5.
He said several members of the purported strategic alliance were also appointed to the APC campaign council but later announced that
they would not participate in its activities.
Asema described their action as political mischief and urged party members involved in the alliance to withdraw and return to the mainstream APC leadership in the state.
He maintained that the APC remained strong in Benue and did not require any alliance to secure victory in the 2027 general elections.
The campaign council’s Director-General expressed confidence that the party would win the elections by a wider margin than it
recorded in 2023.
He said the APC won the governorship election in 2023, secured two of the three senatorial seats and delivered Benue for Tinubu.
He added that the party currently controlled 27 of the 32 seats in the State House of Assembly, 10 of the 11 federal constituencies, all 23 local government chairmanship positions and the 276 elected councillorship seats.
Asema attributed the party’s confidence to what he described as Alia’s outstanding performance in infrastructure development, industrialisation, education and workers’ welfare.
He warned that the purported alliance could create confusion among APC members and urged its promoters to desist from actions capable of weakening the party ahead of the elections.
He, however, reaffirmed the campaign council’s commitment to securing victory for both Tinubu and Alia in 2027.
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