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A major leadership crisis has intensified within the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Benue State, as two opposing factions—one loyal to Governor Hyacinth Alia and the other aligned with George Akume, Secretary to the Government of the Federation—openly dispute control over the party’s official materials for the scheduled ward congresses.
The APC national leadership has set February 18, 2026, as the date for ward congresses across the country to elect new party executives at that level. In Benue, however, preparations have been thrown into chaos by conflicting claims over which group received the authentic congress materials from the party’s national secretariat.
The rift, which traces its roots to disagreements following the 2023 general elections, has split the state chapter into two irreconcilable camps. Supporters of Governor Alia recognise Chief Ben Omale as the legitimate state chairman, while the faction backing Senator George Akume insists that Austin Agada remains the authentic leader of the APC in Benue.
Tensions boiled over when Hon. Dickson Tarkighir, the member representing Makurdi/Guma Federal Constituency in the House of Representatives and a key figure in the Akume camp, announced on his verified Facebook page that his group had received the official congress materials. He shared photographs of the documents and urged party members to participate in the exercise under their leadership.
The announcement was swiftly countered by allies of the governor. Speaker of the Benue State House of Assembly, Alfred Berger Emberga, dismissed the circulated materials as inauthentic, claiming the forms were not officially issued by the national secretariat. Similarly, Asortart James Asortart, a social media aide to Governor Alia, asserted that the legitimate materials had been delivered to their faction, further fuelling the confusion and accusations of forgery.
With both sides now claiming possession of the genuine documents and calling on supporters to rally behind their respective structures, fears are growing that Benue APC could witness parallel ward congresses on Tuesday, February 18, 2026. Such a development would represent a significant escalation of the internal power struggle and potentially render the exercise invalid or heavily contested.
Political analysts warn that without urgent and decisive intervention from the APC’s national leadership, the deepening fracture in Benue could severely undermine the party’s unity and organisational strength in the state. The ongoing crisis threatens to weaken the APC’s position ahead of future electoral battles and complicate efforts to present a united front in an already polarised political environment.
As the congress date approaches, all eyes remain on the national secretariat to see whether it will step in to clarify the authenticity of the materials and avert what could become one of the most disruptive episodes in the party’s recent history in Benue State.
