By Emmy Joe
THE POLITICAL crisis engulfing the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Benue State took a dramatic turn for the worse on Wednesday, February 18, 2026, as rival factions loyal to Governor Hyacinth Alia and his erstwhile political godfather, Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Senator George Akume, conducted parallel ward congresses.
The exercise has resulted in the emergence of two separate sets of ward executives across the state’s 23 local government areas, further entrenching the division within the ruling party.
The development is the latest and most severe escalation in a deep-seated rift that has polarised the party since Governor Alia assumed office in 2023.
The conflict pits the state governor against the SGF, who is widely regarded as his political godfather, and has now crystallised into a battle for the very soul and structure of the party at the grassroots level.
Findings by National Record indicate that the faction loyal to the SGF, which recognises Comrade Austin Agada as the substantive state chairman, conducted its congresses as a re-affirmation exercise.
Addressing the press on Thursday, the faction’s Publicity Secretary, Daniel Ihomun, asserted that the existing ward executives were overwhelmingly endorsed by party members to serve another four-year term.
“We heartily congratulate all ward executives who were affirmed by their respective congresses to continue in office for another tenure of four years,” Ihomun stated and described the outcome as a testament to the confidence party faithful have in the current leadership.
He lauded Senator Akume’s “exemplary leadership and fatherly role,” crediting his guidance for holding the party together and providing stability.
He further expressed optimism that a unified party under this structure would deliver Benue State for President Bola Ahmed Tinubu in the 2027 general elections.
In a clearly contradictory account, the faction loyal to Governor Alia, operating under a caretaker committee led by Chief Benjamin Omale, declared that brand-new executives were elected across the state via consensus.
James Ornguga, the state Publicity Secretary for the governor’s faction, dismissed the claim of a reaffirmation, arguing that the tenure of all previous executive committees had legally expired.
“What happened during our ward congresses yesterday was consensus; there were no guidelines for old executives to be returned. Their tenure has elapsed,” Ornguga told journalists.
He provided a detailed timeline to back his claim: ward executives’ tenure ended in July 2025, local government executives in September 2025, and the state executive committee led by Agada expired on February 8, 2026, Omale said.
“So, the lifespan of the entire executives has officially ended,” Omale insisted, justifying the need for a fresh election.
Investigations by National Record indicate that the chaotic outcome of the ward congresses was foreshadowed in the days leading up to the exercise.
Deep divisions were evident when both factions claimed to have received the official congress materials from the APC national secretariat.
Days before the congress, a member of the House of Representatives loyal to the Akume faction, Dickson Tarkighir, posted images on social media of what he claimed were the official Benue congress materials in his possession, urging members to prepare for the exercise.
This claim was immediately rebutted by key allies of Governor Alia, including the Speaker of the Benue State House of Assembly, Alfred Berger Emberga, who alleged that the materials flaunted by Tarkighir were fake and had been “manufactured in Garki, Abuja.”
Governor Alia’s social media aide also asserted that the authentic materials had been received by their camp, setting the stage for the parallel exercises that would follow.
Despite both sides maintaining that their respective congresses were peaceful and conducted in strict compliance with directives from the APC National Working Committee (NWC), the emergence of parallel executives has thrown the party in Benue into a state of confusion.
Credible sources at the national secretariat of the APC in Abuja confided in National Record that the crisis in the Benue APC poses a significant challenge for the national leadership of the party, which is been forced to face reality and device viable strategies to navigate the complex internal conflict to either resolve the conflict or determine which faction’s structure is legitimate.
According to one of the sources, the highest echelon of the party, “with an eye fixed on the 2027 presidential election is disturbed of a fractured APC in a key state like Benue, which left unresolved could have significant political repercussions.”
