APC Rejects Akume-Led Alliance for Tinubu’s 2027 Re-Election

The Benue State chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) has rejected a political alliance reportedly led by the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Senator George Akume, which is mobilising support for President Bola Tinubu’s re-election in 2027.

The party said the group’s agenda could damage Governor Hyacinth Alia’s chances of winning a second term, even though the alliance presents itself as a platform built to back Tinubu and Vice President Kashim Shettima.

Citizen Richard Asema, Director-General of the Benue State Tinubu/Alia 2027 Campaign Council, announced the party’s position during a press briefing.

He said the emergence of the Strategic Alliance for Tinubu/Shettima Re-election 2027 was particularly worrying because of the involvement of Akume, Minister of Water Resources and Sanitation Professor Joseph Utsev, and other influential political figures.

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Asema also asked why politicians from opposition parties, including the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the Labour Party (LP), had been included in the alliance’s proposed campaign structure.

He argued that the make-up of the group raised questions about what it actually intends to achieve, noting that some of its members had already been appointed to the APC’s existing campaign council.

Addressing journalists, Asema said the state APC was uneasy about the development and would not recognise the alliance as an alternative campaign vehicle in Benue.

He said, “The Benue State Chapter of All Progressives Congress (APC) views with serious concern the purported formation of the ‘Strategic Alliance For Tinubu/Shettima Re-election 2027’ by some political individuals and groups and the subsequent announcement of a Campaign Council for the re-election of our dear President, Bola Ahmed Tinubu.

“The Party observes that this ‘Strategic Alliance’ is populated by some members of the APC, some of whom are holding senior positions in the Federal Government of Nigeria, including Senator George Akume, Secretary to Government of the Federation (SGF) and Prof Joseph Utsev, Hon. Minister of Water Resources and Sanitation.

“A critical look at the membership of this so-called Campaign Council reveals that governorship candidates of other political parties, especially the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and Labour Party (LP), as well as officers of some other minority parties, are members of the Group and its ‘Campaign Council’.”

The campaign director-general said the party, led by Governor Alia and chaired by Benjamin Omale, had formally rejected both the alliance and its campaign council.

He described the arrangement as a danger to the APC’s political structure in Benue, saying the state already has an established campaign organisation coordinating activities ahead of the 2027 elections.

Asema alleged that the alliance was being used to weaken the governor’s political standing while creating the impression that its members were working for Tinubu’s re-election.

He said, “The APC in Benue State under the leadership of Rev Fr Hyacinth Alia and the Chairmanship of Benjamin Omale, wishes to strongly reject this purported Strategic Alliance and its Campaign Council.

“This Council, to say the least, is contemptuous and injurious to the fortunes of APC and its electioneering machinery in the state as being coordinated by His Excellency, Rev Fr Dr Hyacinth Alia.

“From all credible intelligence available to the party, this Strategic Alliance has a hidden agenda, which is to sabotage the election of Rev Fr Hyacinth Alia in the 2027 elections, while masquerading as supporters of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.”

Campaign structure and 2023 record

The campaign council said more than 900 party leaders and stakeholders across Benue had already been brought into a comprehensive campaign structure it built.

Asema said the council was publicly inaugurated on Thursday, November 5, at IBB Square in Makurdi.

He claimed that several individuals now linked to the Akume-led alliance were initially named to the existing campaign council, only for them to announce shortly after the list was released that they would not participate in its activities.

Asema said the turn of events raised concerns about the intentions of those behind the alternative political arrangement.

The director-general said he regretted that some party members had allowed themselves to be pulled into what he called an effort to create confusion in the APC.

He added that the party is firmly rooted across Benue State and expects to win in the 2027 general elections.

The campaign council also pointed to the party’s showing in the 2023 general elections as a defence of its electoral record.

Asema recalled that the APC won the Benue governorship, carried the state for Tinubu in the presidential poll and took two of the three senatorial seats.

His figures put the party in control of 23 local government chairmanships, 10 of the 11 House of Representatives seats and 27 of the 32 seats in the Benue State House of Assembly.

All 276 elected councillorship positions in the state, he added, also went to the APC.

The campaign director-general argued that the numbers demonstrated how strong the APC’s structure is and its capacity to mobilise voters without entering into extra alliances.

According to Asema, Alia’s record in infrastructure, industrial growth, job creation and education has boosted public backing for the administration.

The recruitment of 9,700 teachers was singled out as one of the state government’s major achievements.

Regular payment of workers’ salaries and pensions, and moves to clear outstanding arrears, were cited by Asema as further reasons for growing confidence in the administration.

He said the governor’s re-election bid would be anchored on the party’s existing machinery and its performance in office, not on a separate political arrangement.

He said, “His prompt payment of salaries and pensions, alongside the clearance of outstanding arrears, has also strengthened public confidence in his administration.

“APC doesn’t need any alliance to win the 2027 elections and hereby warns against any attempt to confuse the teeming members of the party and the good people of Benue State, who are already poised to vote for the party at the forthcoming elections.”

He urged APC members involved in the Strategic Alliance to pull out and rejoin the party’s mainstream leadership in the state.

“From the foregoing, we advise APC members in the Strategic Alliance to disengage forthwith, retrace their steps and regroup with the mainstream leadership of the Party under Governor Hyacinth Alia.”

The campaign council restated its commitment to delivering both Tinubu and Alia for re-election in 2027.