Part of the open ‘secret’ behind the vibrant followership and huge electoral success of the ruling party in Benue State was the promise to ensure the relocation of all displaced persons in their respective towns and villages. However, according to Austin Agada, the chairman of the Benue State Chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC), the promise and other populist assurances given to the people now appear to be far from the thoughts of the state governor, Reverend Father Hyacinth Alia, who has not hesitated to tackle members of the Agada-led APC exco as well as several party members in the Benue State House of Assembly.
In Makurdi, the state capital and other parts of Benue State, citizens readily attest to the ongoing execution of various infrastructural projects. However, Austin Agada repeatedly asserts that hugely increased federal statutory allocations to the state are not being optimally utilized and that much of the developments being seen across Benue State today should be attributed to the Federal Government in Abuja.
All these reflect a dangerously strained relationship within the APC in Benue State, with the state governor on one side and several others, including the Agada-led leadership of the APC, appearing to be on a collision course against the governor. Indeed, the APC in Benue State is currently embroiled in a deepening crisis, primarily stemming from the actions and political manoeuvres of Governor Hyacinth Alia. These internal conflicts pose significant threats to the party’s cohesion and could adversely affect its prospects in the 2027 general elections.
A central issue in the ongoing crisis is the deteriorating relationship between Governor Alia and the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Senator George Akume.
This discord has raised alarms among party stalwarts who caution that such internal conflicts could jeopardize the party’s future electoral success in the region. In response to the escalating tensions, the APC’s national leadership is quietly intervening towards restoring harmony between the two prominent figures. Despite these efforts, reports indicate that Governor Alia has been unresponsive to peace initiatives and overtures from Austin Agada and other loyalists of Senator George Akume who all featured prominently during the APC’s 2023 political campaigns that successfully ended years of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) dominance in Benue state.
Thus, the political landscape in Benue State is currently embroiled in a crisis of monumental proportions, one that threatens to unravel the very fabric of the APC in the state. At the centre of this storm is the incumbent Governor, Rev. Fr. Hyacinth Alia, whose actions since assuming office have not only alienated key party stakeholders but also raised questions about his loyalty to the party that brought him to power.
The fallout between Governor Alia and the SGF, a former governor of Benue and the architect of APC’s dominance in the state, has become the defining feature of this crisis. What began as a promising partnership has devolved into a bitter feud, with Alia’s missteps and unilateral decisions undermining the party’s unity and weakening its political structure.
Akume, a political heavyweight and the SGF is widely regarded as the backbone of APC in Benue. His political acumen and grassroots mobilization were instrumental in securing victory for the party in the 2023 general elections, both at the state and federal levels. However, Governor Alia’s tenure has been marked by a series of actions that have strained his relationship with Akume and other party leaders.
Alia’s alleged penchant for anti-party politics has been a major point of contention and baffled party members who continue question the governor’s commitment to the APC’s interests, also assert that the positioning of Benjamin Omakolo as an APC factional state chairman could be the prelude of a planned movement to a new political coalition being built by people like former Kaduna State governor, Nasir El-Rufai’s around the Social Democratic Party (SDP).
However, Alia, in a statement issued by his Chief Press Secretary, Mr. Tersoo Kula emphatically denied alleged plans to dump APC, stating that those who keep repeating such allegations on social media were only trying to sow a seed of discord between him and President Bola Ahmed Tinubu. According to Kula, “These actions do not only wholly miss the mark, but they also portray a significant lack of awareness regarding my bond with the President. The lies that I am contemplating a shift to the Social Democratic Party (SDP), alongside Mallam Nasir El-Rufai and others are absolutely gratuitous and lack any trustworthy evidence,” he stated.
Over a period of three days when The Nation on Saturday paid a pre-informed visit to Makurdi, it was not possible to have an audience with the governor or his Chief Press Secretary, Tersoo Kula who was also unable to respond to Whatsapp messages requesting their side of the story. Questions on the impacts made by Governor Alia, allegations of deliberate factionalization of APC, possibilities of resolving frictions with the Agada-led APC state exco, thirteen members of the State House of Assembly and the state Chief Judge as well as sundry complaints about Governor Alia’s alleged decampment plot, insecurity and disinterest in implementing the Ortom-era non-grazing laws went unanswered.
While talks about the alleged move to SDP appear to have abated, within the state chapter of APC, there still remain some concerns about unilateralism and fictionalization. Early in February this year, Alia appointed Benjamin Omakolo as acting chairman of APC in the state. One week earlier, Omakolo who was Welfare Secretary had been suspended by the Ward Disciplinary Committee of the APC in Apa Local Government area of Benue State over allegations that included non-payment of party dues and gross insubordination. Alia’s leadership style has been characterized by a lack of consultation and collaboration with key party stakeholders. His attempt to unilaterally remove the legally recognized State APC Chairman, Dr. Austin Agada, and replace him with his loyalist, Omakolo, sparked a factional crisis within the party. This move, widely seen as an overreach, created deep divisions and disaffection among party members, further eroding the party’s cohesion.
With Governor Alia controlling the Omakolo-led faction and Senator Akume leading the Austin Agada-led faction as well as the support of almost all members of the Benue State National Assembly Caucus led by Senator Titus Zam, a crisis ensued and in efforts to resolve the logjam, the APC National Working Committee was said to have endorsed a Unity Caretaker Committee led by Chief Benjamin Omale, a strong party loyalist known to be a unifying factor.
Nonetheless, Comrade Austin Agada who insists that only a state congress can replace him rather than a conspiratorial agenda has continued to further assert his authority.
Furthermore, Governor Alia’s handling of the October 2024 local government elections has also been a source of widespread criticism. The elections were marred by logistical failures, including the absence of ballot papers and electoral officers, leading to widespread condemnation and accusations of a sham process. The outcome, announced under questionable circumstances, has alienated grassroots supporters who have been the backbone of the APC in Benue since 2011.
Also, across the judicial and legislative arms, some of the governor’s actions are being perceived as judicial and legislative overreach. Perhaps the most alarming aspect of Alia’s tenure has been his interference with the judiciary and the legislature. On February 18, 2025, the suspension of the Chief Justice of Benue State was orchestrated through a compliant state assembly, an action that drew strong condemnation from the National Judicial Council (NJC). This blatant disregard for the rule of law may have set a dangerous precedent and further tarnished the governor’s reputation. In Benue State, the Center for Judicial Integrity (CJI) led by Solomon Adodo has charged the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to investigate alleged plans by the state government to allocate N500 million towards influencing some individuals close to the National Judicial Commission (NJC) and its proceedings on the removal of the state’s Chief Judge.
Similarly, Alia’s handling of the state legislature has appeared to border on authoritarianism. The suspension of thirteen lawmakers who opposed his agenda has weakened a critical institution of governance and deepened the political crisis in the state.
Insecurity presents itself as a challenge in various states but in Benue State where about thirty persons in five villages near Kwande lost their lives on Christmas Day last year, the death toll from insecurity has continued to mount in Benue State. The state government as well as the police and other security agencies have kept mounting. A four-day attack mounted by herdsmen against communities around Jato-Aka cost more than twenty lives, including that of two soldiers, in the hands of marauding herdsmen who also burned down several houses, farms and farm produce.
Benue State Police Command spokesperson, Catherine Anene who gives regular updates on the police’ ceaseless efforts to tackle insecurity in the state noted that the insecurity in the Jato-Aka community and surrounding areas has something to do with the borders it shares with Taraba and Cameroon.
About three weeks earlier, suspected armed herdsmen had attacked Tse Ugema Chul, Mbakesa community, Ugbaam in Ukum local government area where several persons got missing in the bush with others suffering serious injuries. It was gathered that a Saturday night attack provoked youths in the community to gather and pursue the rampaging herdsmen towards the nearby Kafe stream where they unknowingly ran into an ambush by more than fifty herdsmen wielding guns, machetes and other weapons. Six villagers’ bodies were immediately recovered, farm produce got looted and various properties got destroyed.
The criminals also kidnap people. Around 10pm on March 19, in Wannue, Tarka Local Government Area of Benue State, many were jolted awake when sporadic gunshots rent the air as gunmen abducted Nathaniel Kumashe, an official of the Benue State Command of the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC), FRSC spokesperson in the state, Ngozi Ahula who spoke with reporters in Makurdi said that the armed men fired gunshots to scare the victim’s family members and neighbours before taking him away to their hideout.
About one week earlier, youths in Gwer West Local Government Area (LGA) of Benue state took to the streets in protest, burning down the council secretariat and the Ter Tyoshin Palace in anger over the killing of three vigilante men by armed herdsmen in On-Mba-Aondo village. According to the council chairmen of Gwer West LGA, Hon. Victor Torsar Ormin, Chairman of LGA, the irate mob’s attack left some dead, with many people injured.
This series of deadly wanton attacks by herdsmen in Benue State is part of reasons why many, including members of the governor’s political party, express doubts and question the state government’s ability to protect its citizens.
Almost every other state experiences some form of security threats but the consistent trend of killings as well as farmers/herdsmen clashes in Benue State in recent years obviously call for urgent and effective measures. Last year, at a press conference in Makurdi, the Benue State capital, Director of Amnesty International, Barbara Magaji stated that between January 2023 and February 2024 alone, about 2,600 persons, mostly women and children, were killed following attacks on 50 Benue communities. She also said that 18 out of the 23 Local Government Areas (LGAs) in the state were constantly under security threats by armed attackers.
“These attacks are significantly affecting food security and livelihoods because the affected communities are farmers, and displacement makes them unable to carry out any farming activity,” she noted.
In response to such killings and displacements across the state, the All Progressives Congress (APC) which strongly campaigned with a promise to prioritize the return of the masses of internally-displaced is doing its best but it seems there is far much more to be done towards actualizing the APC’s campaign promises in this regard.
Amidst all these is the suspicion that there seems to be a conspiracy of both circumstances and persons to weaken and destroy APC in Benue State. Some of Governor Alia’s critics even suspect that his alignment with opposition figures, including former Governor Gabriel Suswam who is poised to defect with former Vice President, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar to the SDP, yields only feelings of discomfort despite formal assurances.
In Benue State, the APC faces an escalating crisis that threatens to erode its once-strong base and undermine its future prospects.
Alia’s actions, particularly the perceived disregard for party unity and somewhat unilateral approach to governance appear to have sown division among key stakeholders. The urgent need for reconciliation cannot be overstated. For the APC to regain its footing, it must unequivocally recognize Dr. Austin Agada’s leadership, and uphold the independence of the judiciary.
The state government and the party must also consider reinstatement of the thirteen suspended lawmakers to restore legislative integrity and governance credibility. These steps are vital, not just for Governor Alia’s success and APC’s survival in Benue State, but for the party’s long-term political future in the North Central region. The 2027 elections are fast approaching, and the party cannot afford to wait any longer. If action is not taken now, the consequences could be catastrophic, leaving the APC vulnerable to a deepening crisis. The time to act decisively is now.
