Benue APC ward congress: Alia, Akume factions produce parallel excos

Akume

The leadership crisis between Benue State Governor, Hyacinth Alia, and his political godfather, the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, George Akume, escalated following the ward congress of the All Progressives Congress held across the state on Wednesday.

The crisis, which began shortly after Alia’s inauguration in 2023, has split party members into two factions.

After the ward congress, the factionalised groups produced parallel ward executives.

The Austin Agada-led executive, loyal to Akume, claimed that the congress held on Wednesday was a reaffirmation of the existing ward executives.

However, loyalists of the governor told our correspondent that the congress, conducted through consensus across the state, produced new executives, arguing that the tenure of the previous executives had officially expired.

Speaking separately on Thursday, spokespersons for the two factions maintained that their actions were in line with directives from the party’s national secretariat.

Daniel Ihomun, the state Publicity Secretary of the Austin Agada-led faction loyal to the SGF, congratulated the ward executives, insisting that Wednesday’s congress affirmed the existing executives to continue for another four-year term.Charles has voiced “concern” over his brother’s actions and last week issued an unprecedented statement noting Buckingham Palace was “ready to support” the police in their inquiries. Punch