The internal political battlefield of Benue State has just received a major, high-stakes intervention from the very top. Amidst a raging, highly publicized supremacy battle threatening to tear the regional chapter apart, the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Senator George Akume, has broken his silence. Stepping directly into the structural chaos, the veteran political godfather issued a stern, uncompromising mandate to all Benue stakeholders, declaring that the All Progressives Congress (APC) must remain one indivisible family if it hopes to survive.
The crucial intervention dropped during a high-profile, strategic stakeholders’ meeting aimed at de-escalating the intense, months-long cold war between rival factions in the state. For nearly a year, Benue APC has been locked in a bitter, deep-seated power struggle, split down the middle by warring loyalties between the state executive committee backed by Akume and loyalists aligned with the state governor, Father Hyacinth Alia.
With local government elections fast approaching and structural divisions widening daily, Akume used his executive platform to demand an immediate ceasefire, reminding the warring political actors that internal friction is an absolute recipe for institutional suicide.
“We cannot afford to dismantle the very house we spent years building with our collective sweat and resources. The APC in Benue is a single, united family, and we must handle our differences internally with maturity. Factionalism and public mudslinging will only hand our political adversaries a cheap victory. Everyone must fall in line and prioritize party supremacy.” — Senator George Akume, SGF
The SGF’s blunt, unity-focused lecture has thrown Benue’s political corridors into a frenzy of strategic calculations. While Akume’s loyalists have celebrated the speech as a masterful display of stabilizing leadership, political pundits are watching closely to see how Governor Alia’s camp responds to this public call for alignment.
By framing party discipline as a non-negotiable condition for progress, the veteran leader is making a decisive play to assert control, rein in rogue elements, and present a formidable, unified front. Whether this high-level peace mandate will permanently cool down the deep-seated animosities or simply act as a temporary band-aid on a ticking political time bomb remains the biggest question shaking North-Central politics.
