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The political temperature in Benue State rose several degrees today as thousands of opposition members in Gwer-West Local Government Area formally dumped their former parties and decamped to the All Progressives Congress (APC) in a colourful and carnival-like ceremony held at LGEA Primary School field, Naka.
Under blazing sunshine and a sea of white-and-red APC brooms, Governor Hyacinth Alia was received like a returning hero as the crowd erupted in the now-famous chant “Yes Fada!” each time the governor’s name was mentioned.
Decampees, including serving local government officials, ward chairmen, former PDP and LP stalwarts, youth and women leaders, trooped out in their hundreds clutching their old party cards, which they publicly tore and set ablaze before picking up new APC membership cards.
Speaking at the event, Governor Alia welcomed the new members with open arms, saying their decision was proof that the people of Gwer-West have seen and felt the positive difference his administration is making across the state. He promised that no decampee will be treated as a stranger, adding that the doors of the APC remain wide open to every Benue son and daughter who wants progress, peace and development.
The state APC chairman, Comrade Austin Agada, described the Naka rally as the mother of all decampings in the zone, declaring that with today’s harvest of members, Gwer-West has been fully captured for the APC ahead of future elections.
High points of the occasion included cultural displays, solidarity marches and the presentation of APC flags to the new members by the governor himself. Notable decampees took turns to explain that they were tired of remaining in parties that only remembered them during elections and abandoned them afterwards.
By the time the sun began to set over Naka, one thing was clear: the “Yes Fada” movement is no longer just a slogan; it has become a political earthquake sweeping across Benue State, one local government at a time. Gwer-West has spoken loudly today, and the message is unmistakable: the people are fully behind their governor.
