The factional chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Benue State and a loyalist of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, (SGF), Comrade Austine Agada has disclosed that Akume’s loyalists will teach Governor Hyacinth Alia a political lesson during the 2027 governorship elections. Comrade Agada who spoke with journalists during the distribution of empowerment items by the senator representing Benue North West senatorial District, Senator Titus Zam in Makurdi, weekend, stated that governor Alia had rejected President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s political proposal that all incumbents should get the APC return tickets.
He said Governor Alia has not given Akume’s loyalists any reason to support his re-election, and as such the Rainbow Coalition led by former Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike, championing the re-election of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, will teach him governor a lesson in the 2027 elections. Agada noted that the APC faction would not support Alia’s re-election bid, stressing that the governor had given them no reason to back him for a second term.
He said the Rainbow Coalition in Benue comprises other political parties including the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), LP, SDP, APC, among others and supporting the re-election of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu in 2027, and also working to unseat Governor Alia. He however said the coalition had not engaged with Alia, adding that the governor could not expect its support without meeting its expectations.
“He (Alia) has not engaged the coalition, the coalition does not know him, and he has not done anything to give us a reason to support him. If he cannot provide those reasons, he should forget about it”. Agada accused the governor of disrespecting President Tinubu’s directive that incumbent political office holders who won elections on the APC platform be allowed to seek re-election, stressing that the president’s proposal was accepted by party stakeholders, but Alia reportedly went on to support other aspirants against the arrangement.
“We accepted the proposal that every incumbent should be allowed to go for a second term, but the governor refused the proposal”. He maintained that the governor’s alleged disregard for the president, the APC national chairman and the party leadership would cost him in 2027. “If he has no respect for the party, no respect for Mr. President and no respect for the National Chairman of APC, we will teach him a lesson”.
He explained that the Coalition is a voluntary organization that came under one umbrella to work and support for Tinubu’s re-election in 2027. “The Rainbow Coalition, he explained, is a voluntary organisation of political parties coming together with one common objective: the re-election of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu in 2027.”
