The North-Central All Progressives Congress, APC, Forum, has communicated worry over the supposed aim by the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Sen. George Akume, to work in cahoots with the former State Chief Executive of Benue State, Samuel Ortom, to unseat his successor, Rev. Fr. Hyacinth Alia.
The forum led by Alhaji Saleh Zazzaga in a statement on Abuja on Monday remarked that it is troubling that the SGF is fraternizing with a head of the opposition in Benue State in the person of Ortom.
Zazzaga, a member of the APC Presidential Campaign Council in the 2023 political race, encouraged President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to keep a close tab on the SGF whose supposed plot against State CHief Executive Alia could undermine the APC in the North-Central geopolitical zone.
The forum noted that the unholy alliance between the duo depicted at the Thanksgiving program organized in honour of Akume, at Konshisha Local Government Area of Benue State during the weekend leaves no question about the depth of the scheme to unseat Lead Representative Alia in the 2027 poll.
Emphasizing its deficiency of confidence in the SGF’s ability to lead the APC in the zone, the forum, noted that the alliance with Ortom proves that he is not keen on the APC and is only worried about loyalty to his person, and “control of the resources” of Benue State.
“If Senator Akume truly cares for Benue and the North-Central, he would not enter an alliance with Ortom, whose past actions have shown little regard for the dignity and welfare of the people,” the forum noted.
“We are worried that the SGF, who should be the leader of the APC in the North-Central, will forge an alliance with disreputable opposition forces against an APC administration that is working hard to tackle the challenges in Benue State.
“The agenda of the alliance between Senator Akume and Chief Ortom is not about development; it is about Akume’s desire to control the government and resources of Benue State. The North-Central APC Forum condemns this gang up in its entirety.”
The APC Forum communicated shock that Akume could forge an alliance with Ortom, who, during his time as State Chief Executive, boasted that he had retired the SGF from politics.
Noting that Ortom’s eight years as State Chief Executive set Benue State back in terms of human and infrastructural development, the APC Forum asked why the SGF, as a leader of the ruling party, ought to team up with the PDP leader to undermine an APC government.
Ortom, who left the APC for the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, during his tenure as State Chief Executive, was among the dignitaries at a Thanksgiving event held at Konshisha Local Government Area of Benue State over the weekend to honour the SGF.
The event was likewise organized to celebrate the 50th birthday of one of Akume’s major loyalists, Dr. Matthias Byuan, an Executive Director at the Federal Housing Authority, FHA.
Alia’s Chief Press Secretary, Sir Tersoo Kula, in a statement, criticised Ortom’s presence at the event, blaming him of poor leadership during his tenure as State Chief Executive from 2015 to 2023.
On his part, Ortom, through his spokesman, Terver Akase, blamed the Alia administration of getting higher federal allocations without matching the expectations of citizens in tending to security and developmental concerns.
The Forum called on Tinubu and other heads of the APC to move quickly to forestall the undermining of the APC in the North-Central.
