Benue APC Elders Want Urgent Intervention Of Abdullahi Adamu On Deputy Governorship Candidate Impass

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The All Progressives Congress, APC South Elders in Benue State has called on the National Chairman of the Party, Senator Abdullahi Adamu to urgently intervene to address the impasse on choosing the Deputy Governorship Candidate in Benue State.

In a letter signed by a former Senate President, Ameh Ebute and Chief Johnson Agada, addressed to the National Party Chairman and the Governorship Candidate, Reverend Father Hyacinth Alia, the elders urged the leadership of the party do the needful and salvage the reputation of the party in Benue State.

The Benue APC South Elders’ in a letter entitled “Impasse on the choice of the Deputy Governorship candidate in Benue State” and dated August 17, 2022 warned that the members will resist the ploy to impose Sam Ode on the people.

The Elders said that the acceptability of the party in the State was dwindling and the initial enthusiasm that followed the emergence of the Deputy Governorship candidate attracted was already waning.According to Senator Ameh Ebute, there was an alleged desperate ploy by a former Governor of the State, Mr George Akume to impose a deputy governorship candidate against the wish of majority members of the party.

Senator Ebute explained that Akume’s ploy was said to have reached its peak and is said to be threatening the success of the party in the 2023 governorship election unless the Senator Abdullah Adamu led -National Leadership rises to the challenge and avert implosion in the party.

Contrary to the position of APC leaders, elders and stakeholders in Benue South Senatorial District to be allowed free hand and due process in selecting a popular Deputy Governorship candidate to shore up acceptability of APC, Akume and two others are said to be bent in fielding their favorite person at the expense of the party.

Among others, the Benue South Senatorial District APC leaders alleged that Akume, using two henchmen, Chief Simon Shango and Senator Jack Tilley Gado has been making unpopular move to impose his nephew, Sam Ode on the party’s governorship candidate, Reverend Father Hyacinth Alia.

The letter to Adamu read in part ” Once again, we wish to use this medium to draw Your Excellency’s kind attention to yet again, an undercurrent scheming by the leaders of the party in the state, Senator George Akume in connivance with two of his kinsmen, Chief Simon Shango and Senator Jack Tilley Gado to undermine the interest of the party in our Zone by imposing their nephew Hon Sam Ode as the running mate to the Governorship candidate, His Excellency, Rev Father Hyacinth Alia.

“Sir, reliable information at our disposal is to the effect that on Tuesday 16th August 2022, a plan was hatched by the aforementioned trio to convoke a meeting of some selected members of the State Working Committee of the party in Benue State at a designated venue in Abuja for the sole purpose of passing a vote of confidence on the purported choice of Hon Sam Ode as a running mate by just a handful of this leaders without any form of consultations with the the leadership, elders and other stakeholders in Benue South Senatorial District.

“In arriving at the new plot, Senator George Akume, Chief Simon Shango and Senator Jack Tilley Gado, who conceived this latest plot as their last resort and mindful of the fact that members of the State Working Committee of the Tiv extraction from the two Senatorial District of Zone A and B will overrule that of the Benue South Senatorial District (Idoma) that will constitute one third of those in attendance.

“It is in the light of the above that we wish to state loud and clear that for the record that any meeting of the State Working Committee called for the purpose of imposing either Hon Sam Ode or any running mate of the Governorship candidate is without the blessings of the leaders, Elders and other major stakeholders of Benue South and will therefore, remain unacceptable.

“Constitutionally, we are mindful of the fact that the Governorship candidate is empowered to pick his running mate after due consultations with relevant stakeholders without any interference.

“The consequences of this deliberate manipulation in the 2023 general election should be better imagined than real.

“Some aggrieved members are already on their way out of the party because of the’sole administor’ style the party is being run in the state.

“We implore you to do the needful to salvage the reputation of the party in Benue State because of the dwindling acceptability of the party in the state and the fact that the initial enthusiasm that the emergence of the Governorship candidate attracted is already waning”

The stakeholders maintained that Akume’s planned endorsement meeting, is to undermine the Benue South expanded Elders and stakeholders convention held on 30th July, 2022 where over 12 aspirants for Deputy Governorship were in attendance and list arrived at in the meeting was forwarded to the National Secretariat of the party as instructed for possible selection of acceptable candidate.

“Politics is not a one show or family affairs as being exhibited by Senator George Akume. This is evident in his desperation to impose his nephew on the Governorship candidate as running mate thereby undermining the collective interest of the Idoma and Igede people.

“It should be noted that members of the State Working Committee have shown to have compromised even long before now as evident in the fact that the Benue South Zonal Chairman of the party, Reverend Pinot Ogbaji  had since last three weeks congratulated Hon Sam Ode even when there has been no official announcement of the deputy Governorship candidate by the party or the Governorship candidate”.

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