- While Tinubu was receiving the imprimatur of his party members for a second term in office even when he had not spent two years in office, Benue State governor Hyacinth Alia was enveloped by uncertainty as his chances of reelection hung in the balance.
The recent endorsement of President Bola Tinubu by the All Progressives Congress (APC) has added fresh twists and turns to the political dynamics ahead of the 2027 general elections. While Tinubu was receiving the imprimatur of his party members for a second term in office even when he had not spent two years in office, Benue State governor Hyacinth Alia was enveloped by uncertainty as his chances of reelection hung in the balance.
The governor was visibly absent at the APC summit where Tinubu was endorsed by bigwigs of the party. His absence further gives vent to the rumour of his impending departure from the APC. He was said to have boycotted the summit after he could not get the Party’s assurance that he would get a second-term ticket. He later showed up at the venue of the event after it was over. Rumours have been circulating that Alia could leave the APC because he does not control the structure of the party in Benue State.
His absence at the summit is the spillover of the feud between him and the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Senator George Akume, his erstwhile political godfather. Since Alia’s inauguration in 2023, their relationship has deteriorated, splintering the Benue APC into rival factions.
Senator Akume is believed to control more than 80% of the APC’s structure in the state, while Governor Alia operates a parallel executive, having attempted and failed to unseat the APC State Chairman, Austin Agada, a staunch Akume ally.
Party sources familiar with the matter disclosed that Alia hinged his participation and attendance of the event on receiving a dual endorsement: one for Tinubu and another for his own re-election in 2027, a request sources said was flatly rejected by party leaders. The decline of his request was said to have prompted him to intensify talks with the African Democratic Congress (ADC), where he plans to move to. A former governor of Benue State, Gabriel Suswam, is said to be facilitating the talks.
His imminent defection of Governor Alia to ADC, though still a rumour, may change the calculation and permutation for the 2027 elections if it eventually happens. And what will such a move mean for his own political career? What are his chances of winning a second he contests on the platform of a small and obscure party like the ADC? At a time when opposition politicians are flocking to the APC ditching the party for ADC may be tantamount to swimming against the tide, and swimming against the tide can be dangerous and perilous.
One can’t say for sure what Governor Alia’s plans and strategies are, but if the APC leadership denies him a second term ticket and he opts to cast his lot with the ADC, squaring off against an APC candidate that will have the heavy backing of the federal government, may annihilate him at the polls. His performance since he came to office has not been particularly great with Benue becoming the hotbed of violent attacks and wanton killings as rampaging armed herders wreaked havoc across the state. His underwhelming performance, especially in the area of insecurity, means getting the people to stick their necks out for him will be exceedingly difficult. Except he can get himself back into the good graces of the APC leaders and convince them to give him a second-term ticket and endorse him, his chances of reelection are slim.
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