The controversy trailing the composition of the All Progressives Congress (APC) campaign council for President Bola Tinubu’s 2027 re-election and Governor Hyacinth Alia’s second-term bid in Benue State has exposed fresh divisions within the party, with rival groups announcing separate mobilisation structures and disowning the official list.

The development followed the release of a joint Tinubu/Alia Campaign Council by the APC state chapter, which named Alia as chairman and included Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Senator George Akume, alongside two senators believed to be loyal to him and some members of the faction led by state chairman, Comrade Austin Agada.

However, Agada himself was conspicuously missing from the list ahead of its planned inauguration on Thursday, November 5, in Makurdi.

The State Chairman of APC, Chief Benjamin Omale was also named in the long list including many loyalists of the governor.

APC State Organising Secretary, James Ornguga, had in a statement accompanying the released list stated, “Ahead of the planned commencement of campaign activities in Benue State, the All Progressives Congress (APC), Benue State chapter has released her joint campaign council for President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and Governor Hyacinth Iormem Alia.”

Reacting, the Benue Strategic Alliance for Tinubu 2027, through its Director-General, Chief Akange Audu, disowned the campaign structure, insisting that the inclusion of its conveners, Senator Jack Tilley-Gyado and Elder Simon Shango, as well as its National and State Assembly candidates, was unauthorised. (Daily Trust)