An authoritative report has detailed failed efforts by the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Senator George Akume, to replace Governor Hyacinth Alia with Pius Akutah, the Executive Secretary of the Nigerian Shippers Council, as the All Progressives Congress governorship candidate for Benue State.
The Independent National Electoral Commission had set a deadline last week for political parties to upload their candidates for the 2027 governorship and State House of Assembly elections. Against the backdrop of a prolonged leadership tussle between Akume and Alia, the SGF made determined moves to substitute the governor’s name while the APC National Working Committee was processing the party’s candidates nationwide.
The plan triggered sharp divisions within the National Working Committee. A group loyal to Alia argued that Akutah had not taken part in the party’s screening exercise or the primaries held in May 2026. Although Akutah obtained the nomination forms, he failed to resign from his federal position as required under a directive from President Bola Tinubu that all federal appointees seeking elective office must step down within a stipulated period.
Sources indicated that Akume approached APC National Chairman Professor Nentawe Yilwatda to discuss uploading Akutah’s name. During a heated National Working Committee session last week, Deputy National Chairman (North) Dr. Ali Bukar Dalori stormed out of the meeting and proceeded to the Presidential Villa. He informed the President’s Chief of Staff, Femi Gbajabiamila, of the potential damage to the party if Akume were permitted to field a candidate who had neither resigned nor participated in the screening and primaries.
Following further deliberations, Gbajabiamila summoned members of the National Working Committee to an emergency meeting at the Villa. He reminded them of President Tinubu’s decision that all sitting governors who legitimately won their primaries should be returned as the party’s candidates. A clear signal was subsequently sent to the SGF to allow the National Working Committee to proceed with uploading Governor Alia’s name. The Chief of Staff also warned the national chairman of serious sanctions should he attempt to replace Alia with Akutah.
A senior official of the Benue State chapter of the APC, who requested anonymity, linked the crisis between Alia and Akume to a demand made by the SGF two months after Alia’s inauguration in 2023. According to the official, Akume had sought monthly payments of N2 billion for himself and N200 million for his estranged wife from the state administration.
