By Felix Umande

The crisis rocking the Benue State chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) deepened on Thursday as the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Senator George Akume, serving members of the National Assembly from the state, and other stakeholders of the party shunned the campaign flag-off of Governor Hyacinth Alia in Makurdi.

The event, held at IBB Square, was largely attended by supporters loyal to the governor, while several prominent APC leaders and elected representatives were absent.

Among those absent were Senators Emmanuel Udende (Benue North-East) and Titus Zam (Benue North-West), as well as members of the House of Representatives, including Asema Achado, Dickson Tarkighir, Terseer Ugbor, Sesoo Ikpagher, Sekav Iortyom, Regina Akume and Philip Agbese.

The boycott followed the earlier directive by the Austin Agada-led faction of the party, which had ordered its members nominated into Alia’s campaign council to decline their appointments. On Tuesday, November 3, 2026, the faction reportedly reinforced its position by urging members not to participate in the inauguration of the council.

In a related development, the Benue Strategic Alliance for Tinubu 2027 has disclaimed a publication jointly signed by Benjamin Omale and Hon. James Ornguga purporting to present an Alia Campaign structure in Benue State.

In a statement signed by its Director General, Chief Akange Audu, the Alliance said the publication listed its Conveners, Senator Dr. Jack Tilley-Gyado, CON, and Elder Simon Shango, MFR, as well as its candidates for the National Assembly and Benue State House of Assembly, as members of the Alia structure.

The Alliance categorically dissociated itself from the publication, insisting that its formally published organisational and campaign structure remains the authentic and authoritative reference for its leadership and membership.

It described as contentious the purported structure designating Governor Alia as Chairman while listing the Founder and foremost political leader of the APC in Benue State, Senator George Akume, CON, merely as a member.

The group said since the APC secured victory in the 2023 general elections, the party’s established leadership and structures have been sidelined by the Alia administration, a development it blamed for the divisions currently affecting the party.

The Alliance reaffirmed its commitment to mobilising support for President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s re-election in 2027 and for APC candidates for the National Assembly and State Assembly who emerge from the leadership direction recognised by Senator Akume.

It also expressed concern over hardship in the state under the Alia administration, saying the 2027 process should provide an opportunity for constructive engagement on governance, accountability, party unity and the welfare of the people.

Meanwhile, speaking at the flag-off, Governor Alia expressed satisfaction with voter registration in the state, noting that Benue ranked eighth nationally. He urged residents, particularly APC members, to support President Tinubu’s re-election bid in 2027, assuring them that their votes would count.

The governor appealed to aggrieved party members to put aside differences, forgive one another and work to strengthen the party.

“Let us continue to work in synergy. If, by any chance, you have bitterness in your heart, this is the time to let bitterness go and allow sweetness to come in,” he said.

He urged those not nominated as candidates not to lose hope, attributing his administration’s achievements to the leadership of the APC and President Tinubu. He also claimed the security situation had improved significantly since 2023, whenever local government areas were on the frontline of insecurity, noting that residents were gradually returning to their communities and farms.

By Son Tertsea, Abuja

Nyesom Wike’s Rainbow Coalition has been identified as a split voting device according to Vice President Kashim Shettima, who has also rejected it.

In its place Shettima urged supporters to vote only for the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the 2027 general election.

Similarly, the Social Democratic Party (SDP) rejected any involvement in what it described as the APC Rainbow Coalition, accusing the ruling party of attempting to infiltrate opposition parties and weaken their structures ahead of the 2027 general elections.

According to reports, APC elders in Ondo State also rejected any coalition arrangement that would require the party to sacrifice its candidates or surrender constituencies in exchange for support for President Bola Tinubu’s re-election, adding that the APC could win the state without any coalition.

Shettima issued the anti Coalition directive on Wednesday in Lafia, Nasarawa State, during the APC presidential campaign rally.

The Rainbow Coalition, led by the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, claims to be mobilising support for President Tinubu’s re-election. But not everyone is convinced about the claim.

Wike had repeatedly said the coalition was set up only to back the President, while it would back candidates of other parties for governorship, Senate, House of Representatives and House of Assembly seats.

Shettima disagreed with that position, saying the Presidency would not accept such an arrangement and that President Tinubu’s main message is a clean sweep for the party. Shettima minced no words when he said:

“APC from top to bottom; APC from bottom to top. We do not want a situation where they say vote for the President and not the governor, or vote for the governor and not the President, or the senator, or the House of Assembly. We want APC straight,”

The SDP also disclosed plans to collaborate with other opposition parties to protect votes by jointly training polling agents and establishing common election-monitoring situation rooms across the country.

National Chairman of SDP, Prof. Sadiq Gombe, during an engagement with nine governorship candidates from different states in Abuja, yesterday, disclosed that the meeting was convened to harmonise strategies, share experiences and strengthen the party’s preparations for the presidential, governorship and legislative elections.

Gombe said the SDP was fully prepared for the elections and would not support any attempt to postpone the polls.

“We are not part of any attempt whatsoever to shift the elections for whatever reason. We are ready, and we have been preparing. We are doing everything possible to win the election at the national level and in most states of the federation,” he said.

He identified Dr Adewale Adebayo and Dr Usman Bugaje as the party’s presidential and vice-presidential candidates, respectively.

On the Rainbow Coalition, Gombe claimed that the ruling party was exploring ways to draw opposition members into the arrangement to weaken their political structures.

Speaking under the PBAT Mandate Elders Forum during a briefing in Akure, chairman of the forum, Demola Ijabiyi, addressed the issue of the proposed Rainbow Coalition, stating that while cooperation among political parties pursuing a common objective is valuable, the circumstances of each state must determine the form such cooperation takes.

According to the elders, in Ondo, where the APC controls government at both state and local levels, there is no justification for any coalition arrangement under any guise.

Ijabiyi, who revealed the establishment of the Progressive Mandate Forum (PMF), a state-wide mobilisation structure inaugurated across all 18 local councils, stated that the mandate would extend its organisation to every ward and polling unit, mobilise the electorate, and work towards delivering over one million votes for Tinubu alongside victory for all APC national and state legislators.

Shettima may have had states like Benue in mind where APC is split into factions and one of the factions is allegedly working collaboratively with the PDP governorship candidate at the expense of the governor of the state, Hyacinth Alla.

There is no denying the fact that the Coalition goal may become an albatross for President Bola Tinubu’s reelection bid, if not well handled.

By Felix Umande

In a stunning judgment that has thrown the African Democratic Congress (ADC) into fresh crisis, the Federal High Court sitting in Abuja on Thursday voided the Senator David Mark-led caretaker leadership of the party and annulled the 2027 presidential primary that produced former Vice President Atiku Abubakar as its candidate.

Presiding Judge, Justice Peter Lifu, held that the caretaker committee was illegally constituted, and consequently, all steps taken by it including the nomination of Atiku and former Rivers State Governor, Rotimi Amaechi, as his running mate were null and void.

The court also barred Senator Mark and former Osun State Governor, Rauf Aregbesola, from parading themselves as National Chairman and National Secretary of the party.

Judgment in suit No. FHC/ABJ/CS/1819/2025 was delivered barely a day after Atiku staged a large rally in Sokoto, casting fresh legal doubt on his presidential bid.

The suit was instituted by former ADC Deputy National Chairman (North-East), Nafiu Bala Gombe, who contended that upon the resignation of Chief Ralph Nwosu as National Chairman, the party constitution positioned him to assume leadership, and that the emergence of the Mark-led caretaker violated both the ADC constitution and the Electoral Act.

Defendants in the matter were the ADC, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Senator Mark, Aregbesola and Nwosu.

Justice Lifu upheld Gombe’s claims, declared the Mark-led committee unlawful, and set aside all actions undertaken under its authority.

The ADC has vowed to appeal. Its National Welfare Secretary, Nkemakolam Ukandu, who was joined as an interested party, said the party will challenge the decision at the Court of Appeal.

Atiku, who recently dumped the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) for the ADC, had begun campaigning with a pledge to restore fuel subsidy and reopen land borders. His Sokoto rally featured former Governor Amaechi accusing the Tinubu administration of unprecedented corruption, and former Sokoto Governor, Aminu Tambuwal, accusing state authorities of frustrating opposition campaign.

The verdict adds to long-running leadership litigations rocking the ADC. In July 2026, the Court of Appeal in Abuja affirmed a Federal High Court order restraining INEC from recognising state congresses conducted by committees appointed by the Mark-led caretaker.

In a 2-1 decision, with Justices Okon Abang and Donatus Okorowo in the majority and Justice Abba Mohammed dissenting, the appellate court ruled that power to conduct state congresses resided in elected state executives, not caretaker national leadership.

The ADC and Atiku camp at the time argued the judgment concerned only state congresses and the tenure of state executives, not the presidential primary.

Spokesman Phrank Shaibu had said then that “political propaganda can never substitute for judicial pronouncements.”

The new judgment now directly attacks the caretaker’s power to organise the presidential primary, effectively rendering that distinction irrelevant.

For the ruling APC, the development offers reprieve, as Atiku had sought to present the ADC as the main opposition vehicle, accusing the government of anti-people policies and promising economic restoration.