Benue APC Primary: How the new order dismantled the old order
Johnson Babajide, in this piece, writes on the aftermath of the primaries of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Benue State, capturing how the new order displaced the old guards.
THE primary elections of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) have been concluded across the country and the results collated as the losers are licking their wounds.
In Benue State, the party opted for direct primaries which sprang up big surprises across the three senatorial districts from the state to national assemblies, and the losers have petitioned the party’s appeal panel committee over alleged irregularities during the primary election.
the primary elections which have thrown up a new leadership architecture through the governor of the state, Hyaccinth Alia, who is now poised to re-energise the party to consolidate on the victory of 2023.
It will be recalled that the loyalists of the state governor, Hyacinth Alia dominated the primaries from the state to National Assembly positions.
All the supporters of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Senator George Akume, lost their return ticket, except his wife, Regina Akume, who secured the Tarka/Gboko federal constituency as well as Blessing Onuh, daughter of the former President of Senate and presently, the national chairman of the African Democratic Congress, David Mark.
In summary, the two senators and six National Assembly members who are loyal to SGF lost the primary election, and one of Senator Akume’s strong supporters, Philip Agbese, who perhaps had seen the writing on the wall, had before the primary defected to Labour Party where he has picked a return ticket for Ado/Okpokwu/Ogbadibo federal constituency.
While some political pundits in the state applauded the outcome of the primary elections, describing it as a new order that would help the state governor to focus on the development of the state, few others described the development as further creating a big gully among the state political actors.
A political analyst in the state, Andrew Anas, who x-rayed the outcome of the party primaries, described it as the best thing to have happened to the state, if the state will continue to attain the desired growth.
According to Anas, the just-concluded primary election has thrown up more debate on who actually is the leader of the ruling APC in the state.
He said: “There is absolutely no challenge to the leadership of Governor Hyacinth Alia, the outcome of the last primary elections of the ruling party in the state has established that.
“In line with the party’s guidelines, a governor of the state automatically assume the leader of his party and there shouldn’t be any conflict with this. Am sure the president understands this; being a party man, he handed over the control of the last primary to the governors.”
Anas argued that since the party members believe in electing people who will partner with the governor in his quest to develop the state, instead of what operated in the past three years, where most of the National Assembly members became the real opposition, distracting the governor from delivering on his mandate. “It takes the boldness and determination of the governor to be able to focus on governance and deliver on his mandate to the people, because the Abuja politicians seem not to mean well for the people of the state.”
Also expressing his views on the outcome of the last primary election of the ruling APC in the state, Mr Inalegwu Okwafu, a political observer, described it as peaceful, free and fair.
Supporting his argument, Inalegwu maintained that since all those who were supposed to vote during the primary election made their choice without manipulation, ‘it was assumed that the primary was free.
He further explained what fair means: “When all contestants have the equal right to contest the elections, campaign for voter support and hold meetings and rallies. This gives them a fair chance to convince voters to vote for them,” and added, “It also means that voters have an equal opportunity to vote and their votes are counted.”
Inalegwu argued that all the above indices were diligently carried out, reason, according to him, the post-primary election was peaceful and devoid of any violence or rancour.
According to Inalegwu, the just-concluded APC primary has replaced the old order with the new order and appealed to both the old and new party members to close ranks for the party to win the forthcoming general election so as to consolidate the achievements recorded so far.
The political observer described the administration of the incumbent governor as the government that has interest in turning around the fortune of the state to an economic hub of the north central region.
He added that the present administration has demonstrated exceptional commitment to delivering the dividends of democracy across the length and breadth of the state with unprecedented infrastructural development, including the construction and rehabilitation of roads, improvement of public facilities, expansion of educational infrastructure, revitalisation of healthcare institutions, and implementation of reforms aimed at restoring efficiency and productivity within the public service.
But one of the party stakeholders, who simply identified himself as Amos, differed on the free and fair primary election held across the state, stating that the peaceful atmosphere that pervaded the state after the primary should not be seen as if the aggrieved aspirants were weak or admitted that they lost.
According to him, the just-concluded primary election in the state was marred by irregularities and added that the aggrieved aspirants petitioned the appeal panel committee over the alleged irregularities. He submitted that they should be seen as patriotic citizens of the state who did not want any bloodshed as a result of their political ambition.
He said: “They are the founding fathers of the party in the state and they know what they have contributed to sustain the party which now becomes a bride of the people of the state.
“I commend their patriotic posture, it shows that they placed the interest of the state above their personal interest, and inasmuch as they have opted for peaceful way of expressing their grievances at the party appeal panel, we are expecting that justice will be done because there are obvious evidence that the last APC primary election was marred by irregularities and electoral fraud.
He added, “Kudos must be given to the leader, (the SGF) Senator George Akume, whose peaceful conduct at every provocation has stabilised the party in the state from being shredded apart, he is a peace-loving leader, a great stabiliser and a leader of all leaders.”
There are unconfirmed reports that the opposition parties may likely opt for strategic partnership with the aggrieved aspirants to unseat the incumbent governor, Hyacinth Alia, but Pa Amos, dismissed the insinuations and submitted that the stakeholders under the leadership of the SGF would not in any way destroy the party they had laboured hard to form and nurture to become one of the largest parties in Africa on the altar of ‘mere internal skirmishes ‘.
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