Clear facts have been discovered in the prolonged political crisis in the Benue State APC chapter. Initially it was allegedly a fight for resource control between the governor, Hyacinth Alia and his mentor, George Akume, the secretary to the government of the federation.
As the 2027 general election on the conner, it’s glamorous that the leadership tussle is basically on who controls the party structure in the state.
While Akume is believed to have nurture and build the APC structure spanning 12 years , Alia is bent on taking away the old system of political godfatherism which some political observers fault the governor sencerity in his approach.
BusinessDay political desk deem it searchlight into the genesis of the political embargo.
Read also:End bitter feud tearing state APC apart Shettima appeals to SGF and Benue governor
Why Alia Seek Benue State Governorship.
Reverend Father Hyacinth Alia entered the 2023 Benue State governorship race with a stated personal conviction to “liberate the people of Benue from poverty” and transform the state. Despite being a Catholic priest for nearly three decades, he actively sought the position, taking a leave of absence from his pastoral duties to enter politics.
According to Akahaan Paul, during Alia inaugural speech and reports indicate his decision to run was driven by a desire to address the “appalling situation” of the people in his state. He frequently portrayed his campaign as a “message of hope” to improve infrastructure, agriculture, and education.
Alia expressed a strong personal commitment to leading the state, stating in 2025, “I am ready and willing to provide the requisite leadership to take that leap of faith into a future of shared prosperity for Benue”.
He has described himself as a “messenger” for the people, aiming to break the cycle of poverty and poor governance.
While he appears personally driven, his, entry into politics caused conflict within his religious vocation, leading to his suspension from priestly faculties by the Bishop of the Catholic Diocese of Gboko.
Paul Unongo And George Akume Role In The Emergent Of Alia As APC 2023 Governorship Candidate.
Though Paul Unongo did not play a direct, active campaign role in Hyacinth Alia’s 2023 governorship election as he passed away on November 29, 2022, shortly after the APC primaries.
However, his role in Alia’s emergence can be characterized through his influence as a political leader and the symbolic “passing of the torch” to a new political era.
Unongo, a political catalyst for change, a veteran politician and former Minister of Steel Development, was a key figure in the longstanding push for political change in Benue State. His long-term, vocal opposition to the previous establishment laid groundwork for the popular desire for a new, non-establishment candidate Fr. Alia. Hello had a private meeting with George Akume in Jos, Plateau State and instructed Akume to made Alia the governor.
As a prominent Tiv Nationalist (Wantaregh) and Chairman of the Northern Elders Forum, Unongo provided a spiritual and traditional blessing to the quest for a new Benue. Supporters described his influence as a catalyst, suggesting that the “redemption” he desired for Benue was realized through Fr. Alia.
Before his passing, Unongo was recognized as a mentor, with Fr. Alia referring to him as a father figure, an erudite politician, and a “psychopathologist” whose counsel was valuable.
Following his death, his family and political allies in his stronghold (Zone A) continued to align with the APC, with his son, Hon. Fidelis Msughter Unongo, later becoming a Special Adviser in the Alia administration.
Paul Unongo’s role was more of a foundation-layer and mentor, whose death created a, “passing of the baton” moment that propelled the search for a new leader, culminating in the election of Fr. Alia.
After Clinching APC Governorship Ticket In Benue State.
Read also: No parallel APC Ward/LG Congress in Benue Committee
After securing the APC Governorship ticket, Hyacinth Iormen Alia, started strange symptoms of political alignment with the then governor of Kaduna State Nasir El-Rufai.
In July 2023, photos of Hyacinth Alia and El-Rufai graced the social media. A picture of the duo was released after their closed-door.
Many thought Alia was a novice in politics and probably building political alliances and synergy with party members within the northern region.
However, facts later emerged that the relationship was not about the unity of the party, but the agenda of one man, Mallam Nasir El-Rufai.
A pressure group in Benue State, the Benue Coalition for Democracy(BCD), under the leadership of Ternenge Bendega in a press statement urged Alia to withdraw from the race since it is clear that El-Rufai and leaders of Miyetti Allah organization will pilot his administration.
The Benue pressure group alleged that Alia was not fit to be governor, having collected N5 billion from the enemies of the state.
Part of the statement reads: “It is with a heavy heart that I write today on behalf of all lovers of democracy in Benue State. We are saddened and worried by the desperation displayed by the governorship candidate of All Progressives Congress, APC in the state, Hyacinth Alia, ahead of the 2023 elections.”
“According to our informant, the deal was struck between Alia and his sponsors that if he wins the election, he will repeal the Open Grazing Prohibition and Ranches Establishment Law of Benue State and cede parts of the state to Fulani pastoralists to take over and settle in,” the group disclosed.
In a move that appeared like his (Alia’s) commitment to the deal with Governor El-Rufai, the suspended priest started telling the people of Benue State that he was going to reconcile Benue people with the Fulani herdsmen so that they could co-exist together with the herders. This campaign message didn’t go down well with some Benue citizens, and anytime the governor was asked questions bordering on security, he shied away and told the people that, security matters and strategy were not issues to be disclosed in public.
Shortly after Alia assumed office as governor, herdsmen started returning to the state in what seemed to be fulfilling the deal with El-Rufai. the enforcement of the Open Grazing Prohibition and Ranches Establishment Law of Benue State was relaxed without an official pronouncement and cows were grazing everywhere. They are still grazing in Benue State today, thereby causing renewed insecurity in the state.
Recently, Governor Hyacinth Alia attempted to repeal the law prohibiting open grazing in Benue State by conducting a public hearing in Gboko local government Area of Benue State. The people on seeing the proposed amendment openly condemned repealing of the law.
Alia Reunification With Akume Opponents.
Shortly after El-Rufai fell out with the administration of His Excellency, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, which was occasioned by the failure of the former FCT Minister to scale through his ministerial screening, Governor Alia and the former governor of Kaduna State began to look for an alternative platform. It seems that El-Rufai has been nursing the ambition to be President even when the existing political arrangement has shifted power to the South after Muhammadu Buhari has just completed the tenure of the north.
Alia who also has deliberately fallen out with the main APC in Benue State was left with no other option than to reunite with a former chieftain of the Social Democratic Party (SDP), Senator Barnabas Gemade, a man who has been funding the SDP in Benue State since 2018.
Read also: Benue APC set to elect 27 EXCO members, 10 delegates in wards congress
Senator Gemade was also one of the three governorship aspirants on the platform of the APC that challenged Governor Alia’s nomination as APC gubernatorial candidate in Benue State to the Supreme Court. Gemade challenged the nomination of Alia and sought the outright cancellation of the primary election that gave him the ticket, a move that would have left the APC without a governorship candidate in Benue State for the 2023 election.
Surprisingly, it is Gemade who was Alia’s top political enemy that has suddenly become his political godfather. Meanwhile, everyone in all the political camps in Benue knew that Senator Akume, the current Secretary to the Government of the Federation, was the one who single-handled birthed the idea of the direct primaries that produced Alia, without which he could not have come close to the ticket in the indirect primaries. Akume also fought legal battles from the lower courts to the Supreme Court to ensure that Alia’s ticket was not destroyed.
Gov Alia’s hatchet men have been deriding the person of Senator Akume, the SGF, who has single-handedly funded and nurtured the APC to the current strength it possessed in Benue state by emerging victorious both at the state and federal elections in 2023.
After his inauguration in May 2023, Benue State Governor Hyacinth Alia significantly reduced the influence of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), George Akume, by systematically bypassing his recommendations for key government positions and party leadership. This move was interpreted as an attempt to establish independent control over the state’s administration, departing from the traditional practice of consulting party elders and the “godfather” figure.
Governor Alia restricted Akume’s influence regarding appointments. Insiders reported that Governor Alia rejected Akume’s nominations for cabinet picks, refusing to appoint candidates suggested by the SGF.
For instance, Akume reportedly backed his former media aide, Becky Orpin, for Speaker of the State Assembly, but Alia heavily backed his own choice, Hon. Aondona Dajoh, who ultimately won, denying Akume control of the parliament.
Alia also disregarded Akume’s influence in selecting top officials, specifically appointing individuals like Dr. Paul Biam as Chief of Staff, a position that reports indicated Akume strongly opposed.
Alia undoubtedly created his own political structure, leading to a rift where “stakeholders” (Akume loyalists) were sidelined in favor of “masses” (Alia loyalists).
This power struggle stemmed from a clash between the “stakeholders” (aligned with Akume) and Governor Alia’s administration, which aimed to curb the former governor’s long-standing, 12-year grip on the Benue APC apparatus.
Benue People Fault Shettima Peace Appeal.
A cross section of Benue people especially supporters of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, SGF, George Akume have urge the Vice president, Kashim Shettima to stop embarrassing Akume in public over the APC leadership crisis in Benue State chapter.
Shettima, while Speaking to stakeholders in Abuja, Shettima said the rift between the two leaders should be set aside in the broader interest of Benue’s stability, urging Akume to reach out to his younger brother, Alia, a statement widely criticise by the SGF supporters.
They accused the Vice president of using Alia ahead of his 2031 presidential ambition and urge him to work on building his devastating image in the eyes of Tinubu administration.
One of the supporter Hyua Patrick Nyimkor said “I’m sure the SGF, Senator Akume will understand that ‘Ormbatsav’ Shettima is using his head to push his agenda. No African man with genuine intentions would ask an elder to go to a younger one for peace. Shettima is taking advantage of Akume’s humility. For the avoidance of doubt, let Shettima tell Wike the same nonsense.
“Akume did not commit any crime.Alia just wants to be whatever he chooses to be, therefore with due respect, I think it should have been better and normal if Mr vice president advised Alia to reach out to Akume, after all it is Alia who doesn’t want to reach out to Akume
“Nigeria’s Vice President, Kashim Shettima , talks tough every time he meets Benue State Governor Hon. Chief Hyacinth Alia about the political crisis in Benue.
“But here is the question:
Has he ever said a single word about the killings in Benue by his “brothers,” the armed Fulanis?
“Has Vice President Shettima ever publicly addressed the people of Benue with a single word of condolences amidst these killings?
“Has he openly condemned the killings carried out by his brothers, the armed Fuanis? Just silence on the Fulani killings that Governor Alia keeps denying.
Read also: Benue targets 23,000 youths in free digital skills drive to tackle unemployment
“So, is Shettima only aware of political quarrels in Benue, while Benue people bleed in silence?
In their reaction, the Concerned Benue Democrats, CBD fault the vice president Shettima approach in resolving the political crisis in Benue State.
The group says It is on record that Vice President Shettima came face to face with the continuous disrespect of the SGF at an event held in Abuja in August 2023, where Governor Alia referred to Senator George Akume as “My son”.
In a statement in Makurdi signed by Leonard Ikyem, for Concerned Benue Democrats the group urged Governor Alia to constitute peace committee as directed by the president during his visit in Benue State last year over the killings of the people in the state.
The statement read:
Our attention has once again been drawn to comments made by Vice president His Excellency, Kashim Shettima, at the Progressive Governors’ Forum-Renewed Hope Ambassadors Strategic Summit on Tuesday, 24th February, 2026 in Abuja.
As you all heard, during the event which was never about Benue State, VP Shettima appealed directly to Akume to extend an olive branch to the Governor of Benue State, Hyacinth Alia to mend fences and give peace a chance for the interest of development of the state and the APC.
This is not the first time the Vice president is making this comment, he had, on December 28, 2025, made a similar appeal at the wedding reception of Akume’s son in Makurdi.
As close watchers of Benue politics and Concerned Benue Democrats(CBD), we are out to set the records straight and correct the delinerate and mischievous representation of facts.
One question that every sincere and close observer of Benue politics has been asking in over three years is, what is Senator Akume’s crime against Governor Alia?
This question has become necessary because Governor Alia started disagreeing, fighting and distancing himself from the SGF and the leadership of the APC in Benue State, immediately he took the oath of office on Monday, May 29th, 2023.
Alia went against his party during the Inauguration and constitution of the leadership of the Benue State House of Assembly.
Even for party leadership positions in the Benue State House of Assembly such as Majority Leader, Majority Whip and other positions that the occupants are usually nominated by the party,Alia ensured those nominated by the party did not emerge, while the list sent by the Peoples Democratic Party(PDP) for minority positions was honoured.
Governor Alia nominated and appointed commissioners without inputs from his party, the APC. All these happened within Alia’s first 3 months in office.
After this, the governor embarked on the project of removing the State Chairman of the party, Comrade Austin Agada and the authentic State Working Committee of the party.
The governor declared war against his party and his appointees, the caretaker chairmen made it a habit to attempt to stop every Church activity like thanksgiving services that Akume’s supporters including National Assembly members, State Assembly members, federal appointees, party stalwarts were to attend or conduct in favour of the SGF.
The governor’s appointees used several derogatory words to describe the SGF and his supporters. The Governor himself called National Assembly members from Benue State U Bokoti Mbaiorobv, which can literally be translated to English as ‘Bucket People’ meaning people without reasoning.
Several groups such as Zone ‘A’ Peoples Aliance(ZAPA), Benue Alliance for Good Governance(BAGG) and several emergency groups, allegedly backed by the current administration in Benue State embarked on ‘festival of insults’ against Senator George Akume on National TV, national dailies, radio stations and social media platforms.
Some of the people who organized the festival of insults against Akume have been rewarded with key apointments in Alia’s administration.
In all of these, Senator George Akume has always maintained that the Benue people should pray for Governor Alia to succeed.
Even at the burial of the late Wantaregh Paul Iorpuu Unongo in 2024, where everything was done for the SGF not to be recognized and to deliver the President’s funeral message failed, the SGF publicly appealed on Governor Alia to come back so that they can work together.
The response by Governor Alia and his supporters to the public appeal by the SGF has been worsening hostility against the SGF and his supporters.
We have even seen groups calling for the removal of Senator George Akume as SGF been hosted at the Benue State Government House in Makurdi.
These are just some of the actions of Governor Alia’s supporters against the SGF.
It is shocking that anytime Vice President Shettima elects himself to make comments on the crisis rocking the APC in Benue State, he fails to call Governor Alia to order but makes comments capable of being misconstrued the SGF is fighting Governor Alia and the aggressor in the Benue APC crisis.
Read also: Northern governors condemn Kwara, Katsina, Benue killings, call for decisive security action
It is on record that Vice President Shettima came face to face with the continuous disrespect of the SGF at an event held in Abuja in August 2023, where Governor Alia referred to Senator George Akume as “My son”.
That was the same man he referred to as “My Leader”, during the campaigns. He demoted the same man to the status of “My Son” after he became governor.
When Kashim Shettima mounted the rostrum, he pointed out that he couldn’t call the SGF as his son, but will rather address him as an elder statesman.
Despite these glaring facts, why has the Vice President chosen to make remarks capable of being misconstrued the SGF is the aggressor in the Benue APC face-off?
To some of us, we view the VP’s remarks as capable of giving the SGF bad publicity in the whole crisis.
One may be attempted to ask; Can His Excellency Shettima look at the FCT Minister, Barr Nyesom Wike and tell Wike to reach out to Governor Sim Fubara for peace in Rivers State?
Was it not same his Excellency Shettima that directed Fubara to go greet Wike at the Villa over a year during the climax of the Rivers political crisis? Why didn’t Shettima appeal to Wike to reach out to Fubara to make peace?
In case the Vice President is not aware, in Tiv culture, when there exists a problem between an elder and a younger person, the younger one is expected to reach out to the elder for a peaceful resolution, while the elder is under obligation to accept the olive branch of the younger person but not the other way round.
It is quite unfortunate, Shettima wants Senator Akume who is not only the elder in this case, but also the victim to reach out to Governor Alia for peace. Would Shettima have done same if Governor Babagana Zulum had treated him same way Alia is treating Senator Akume?
Is Shettima also aware that it is only Benue State that the APC held parallel congresses?
In Borno State where Shettima comes from, the executive committee of the APC at the ward and local governments who were elected during the last Elective Congresses were returned in a Non-elective congress or affirmation as directed by the NEC of the Party but here In Benue State, Governor Alia removed all executive committee members of the party at all levels and replaced them with new people only loyal to him against the stipulations of the APC’s NEC, what is the take of his Excellency Kashim Shettima on this gross disregard to the party’s directive?
Shettima loves Benue so much to the point he has made it a habit to dabble into the Benue APC crisis at many public events but unfortunately, he has never said anything concerning the security challenges in Benue State.
Does it mean Shettima’s interest is only in the structure of the APC in Benue State?
During the campaigns for the 2023 presidential election, the VP told the world that as Vice President, he will be in chge of security and will lead the troops against terrorists and bandits. Has he fulfilled the promise? Shouldn’t Shettima be busy trying to fulfill that promise than offering ambiguous remarks on Governor Alia’s feud which can be deduced by many as being bias?
We all recall that the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Bola Ahmed Tinubu during the visit to Benue State on the Yelwata massacre at Benue Government House, advised the Governor to Constitute a peace committee to blend all warring factions and form a united Benue of our dreams but up till date no one has heard of that committee. Has our beloved Vice President care to find out how this directive of his boss the president fared? These are the many questions on the lips of our esteemed Democrats begging for answers.
None of us is against the mediation efforts of the Vice President to restore peace in our dear state and the APC but we are of the opinion that it would have been more honourable for the Vice President to have held close sessions with Governor Alia and the SGF to resolve this impulse than resulting to commentaries at events held for different purposes.
Finally, we want his Excellency, the Vice President and the world to know that the SGF, Senator Dr. George Akume is the political leader of Benue State. He is not the aggressor but the victim in the crisis rocking the APC in Benue State. The only crime of the SGF is ensuring Hyacinth Alia emerged as governor in 2023.
We also, wish to use this conference to call on the Executive Governor of Benue State His Excellency, Hyacinth Iormem Alia to shun his plan of establishing a Disarmament, Rehabilitation and Reintegration (DRR) camp in the state. If priorities are to be made in this regard, the people of Benue prefers the reconstruction of homes destroyed by these terrorists and the return of people who were and are continuously been displaced to their ancestral lands. We urge his Excellency not to put the lives of those terrorists above those they maimed, killed, destroyed their properties and displaced as seen in the medi
Meanwhile Former Attorney-General of the Federation Michael Aondoakaa has called on Benue State Governor Hyacinth Alia to resolve differences with Secretary to the Government of the Federation George Akume, following escalating tensions within the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the state.
Speaking on Arise Television’s Morning Show on Tuesday, Aondoakaa said the confrontation intensified after last Wednesday’s ward congresses and has divided party members into two factions since Alia’s inauguration in 2023.
“The President has directed a conciliatory process by the party regarding the differences between Benue State Governor Hyacinth Alia and Secretary to the Government of the Federation George Akume,” Aondoakaa said. “I don’t see anything wrong, nor do I see it as disrespect to the office of the Governor, if he approaches Akume in obedience to the President’s directive.”
Clearly, the vice president has become the governor’s godfather and there’s nothing wrong about that but he should stop disrespecting Akume. We can not have Shettima continously grab the microphone to address Senator Akume as if he’s his mate. How many times has Shettima made efforts to reconcile the two leaders? Nobody is stopping him from getting more contracts in the State but he should stop using Akume to win more contracts from the governor.
Political watchers believe that politics should never take away logic, values or basic decency. It is only natural to be conscious of what we support
If we create a culture where those who help us are later humiliated or discarded, we risk discouraging others from ever extending their hands to us again.Let politics not rob us of wisdom.
