Benue APC Crisis Deepens as Deputy Governor Disowns Peace Communique

Whatever peace was supposed to come out of the Benue APC’s reconciliation meeting last Sunday is already unraveling. By Tuesday, Deputy Governor Sam Ode had publicly disowned a communique widely circulated in national newspapers — calling it fraudulent and saying his committee never signed off on it.

The Communique That Caused the Problem

After the APC reconciliation meeting, aimed at patching up the rift between Governor Hyacinth Alia’s camp and that of Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Senator George Akume — a document began circulating. The communique claimed that both leaders had agreed to grant automatic tickets to sitting legislators at the national and state assembly level ahead of 2027.

That claim landed like a grenade inside a party already struggling to hold its pieces together.

Ode’s Denial

Sam Ode, who chaired the communique drafting committee, went before journalists in Makurdi and denied the document. His version: the committee only prepared a draft and forwarded it to Governor Alia for vetting and to the SGF for input through the Minister of Water Resources. Nobody on the drafting committee signed anything.

“No member of the drafting committee signed that document. What we had was an attendance register. It is shocking that someone took that and attached it to a so-called communique,” Ode said.

He also flatly denied that the endorsement of automatic tickets ever came up during the meeting’s deliberations. According to him, whoever circulated that version fabricated the detail entirely.

Still Two Camps

The underlying tension between the Alia and Akume factions has not gone away. After Sunday’s meeting, the SGF was reportedly in favour of automatic tickets for incumbents — while Governor Alia distanced himself, saying the decision belongs to the APC’s national leadership, not to individuals at a state meeting.

That disagreement had not been resolved before the communique controversy erupted and made things worse. A reconciliation meeting that produces a disputed communique and competing denials is, by any measure, a failed reconciliation meeting.

What’s at Stake

Benue APC going into 2027 in this condition is a problem. The state has genuine electoral significance, and a divided ruling party makes it vulnerable. If the Alia-Akume rift is not settled — and settled clearly — both factions risk handing opposition parties an opening they would not otherwise have.

Sources: Daily Trust, Punch, PM News