…Exercise a battleground for supremacy battle between Alia, Akume camps -Analysts
The internal crisis brewing in the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Benue State is fast assuming a disastrous dimension as the two factions have launched a parallel e-registration process.
But political analysts regret that the process has become a battleground for supremacy tussle between Governor Hyacinth Alia’s camp and the faction associated with the SGF, Senator George Akume.
The seemingly unending impasse between the two sides is driven by an ongoing discord between factions loyal to the State Governor Hyacinth Alia and the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Senator George Akume, principally over which side controls party structures ahead of the 2027 general elections.
Findings by New Telegraph revealed that the Alia faction led by its state party chairman, Chief Benjamin Omale and the Akume faction led by Austin Agada have launched their parallel e-registration exercises across the 23 local government areas of the state.
New Telegraph observed that the Alia faction, which considered itself the “active” and “recognised” faction, launched the e-registration with the enrollment of Governor Alia in his hometown (Vandeikya).
Both sides have trained many of its agents and deployed them across the 23 local governments, with the goal to strengthen the party structure and ensure they spring surprises during next year’s general elections.
The “Agada” faction, which is aligned with party stakeholders, has reportedly described the Omale-led e-registration exercise as “illegal” and a “recipe for chaos”.
It has aligned with a segment of the party structure that is challenging the influence of the current government in the state.
Political pundits regret that the e-registration exercise, which is part of a nationwide APC initiative to modernise its membership database, has, however, been viewed in Benue as a battleground for supremacy between the Governor Hyacinth Alia’s camp and the faction associated with the SGF, Senator George Akume.
Despite the conflict, both factions are aiming to dominate the registration process to control the party’s structure ahead of the imminent elections.
New Telegraph reports that the exercise is a major priority for the Alia-led APC, led by Chief Omale, with significant backing from Governor Alia, who has reportedly provided 1,428 cell phones, printers, and internet devices to facilitate the seamlessness of the process.
New Telegraph observed that following an initial, less-than-encouraging turnout, the party has increased its efforts by training and deploying additional ward agents to ensure all 276 wards are covered.
It has been learnt that Benue APC membership is steadily swelling due to Senator Akume’s strong backing to the e-registration exercise.
At least 122,000 members of the party have registered in the ongoing e-registration exercise in the state.
Our correspondent gathered that between January 12 and January 22, only about 33,000 members had registered. But the numbers surged dramatically following a directive from the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Senator George Akume, last Thursday, instructing party stakeholders to mobilise members for registration.
The spokesperson for the Austin Agada-led State Working Committee loyal to the SGF, Daniel Ihomun, told reporters yesterday that “the surge followed Akume’s intervention”.
In the meantime, the party’s publicity scribe from Alia’s faction, Mr James Ornguga, has disclosed in a statement that the party has introduced a simplified registration method which allows members to send their data from any location to be registered.
