Benue’s Future Must Not Be Mortgaged to One Man’s Political Whims -By Leonard Karshima Shilgba

In 2007, Akume supported Gabriel Suswam’s rise as the 4th elected Governor. Their alliance crumbled, and Suswam forced Akume out of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP). Akume fled to the then-Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), fielding the calm and competent Ambassador Prof. Steve Ugbah against Suswam in 2011. Suswam prevailed, but Akume clung to his Senate seat.

By 2013, a historic merger birthed the All Progressives Congress (APC). Akume rode this wave to foist Samuel Ortom, a PDP defector, as APC gubernatorial candidate in 2015—abandoning his long-standing ally, Ambassador Ugbah. Ortom won, defeating by more than 100, 000 votes Suswam’s preferred candidate Terhemen Tarzoor (“The Man Wei Sabi”). But, as if bound by ritual, Akume turned against Ortom too about midway into his first term. I was among stakeholders from Benue Zone A who visited the Government House Markurdi in May 2018, led by our late leader Papa Wantaregh Paul Unongu, and pleaded with Governor Ortom to not leave the APC. Sadly, he couldn’t endure the meddling anymore and decamped back to PDP, where he defeated Akume’s anointed APC candidate, Hon. Emmanuel Jime, in 2019. So, APC lost Benue. That same year, Akume too lost his own Senate seat to Hon. Orker Jev—a historic personal defeat. Later the same year, President Buhari offered Akume a lifeline appointment as a Federal Minister after this defeat.

Even after President Buhari had appointed Ambassador Ugbah as Nigeria’s Ambassador to Russia and Belarus in 2017—a critical diplomatic post—Akume, inexplicably, barely a year after Buhari had offered him a political lifeline in 2019, influenced his recall in 2020. In his place,  nominating no other than “The Man Wei Sabi”, Mr. Tarzoor, sending him to far less strategic Namibia. The logic? Personal preference trumping Benue’s interest. During a 2022 visit to Russia, I heard firsthand the high praise for Ugbah’s diplomatic leadership—testimonies that make his recall a clear act of political sabotage, not national service.

Fast-forward to today: Akume—now a federal appointee under President Bola Tinubu—is once again fighting the sitting governor, Dr. Hyacinth Iormem Alia,  Benue’s sixth elected Governor. From ignoring Alia’s nominee for ministerial appointment to stirring propaganda, distractions, and internal party friction, Akume seems committed to another season of political instability in Benue.

But this time, the script may not go as he’s used to.

Governor Alia enjoys widespread popularity, commands the respect and cooperation of the Benue State House of Assembly, and has earned the loyalty of the APC state structure under Comrade Omale. The 23 Local Government Chairmen in Benue State, overwhelmingly elected on APC’s platform and recently affirmed by the Appeal Court, further signal where the wind of legitimacy is blowing.

To those who claim, even after this legal validation, that “Akume will decide in 2031”, I ask: Who decides for Benue? One man or the people? How about 2027? And who knows what a day will bring forth? Let us remember that we are mortal men, not the only True God.

Governor Alia’s inclusive leadership, prudent governance, and statesmanlike respect for political elders—such as Senator Barnabas Gemade, Akume’s own political godfather (who was instrumental to then-Civil Servant Akume becoming Governor of Benue State in 1999)—are refreshing. He doesn’t trade insults; he works across party lines to develop Benue. In him, we see that Christian faith, humility, and administrative wisdom are not mutually exclusive.

Let it be made clear: Benue APC is not one man’s farm. It is a platform built by many, sustained by people’s trust, and led today by a Governor who has refused to be distracted from the mission of governance.

This is no longer the Benue of 2007 or 2015. Governor Alia is not leaving the APC; instead, he is building it into a real development vehicle. If Akume’s playbook remains stuck in the politics of imposition, disrespect, and removal, then both 2027 and 2031 may well repeat a familiar ending: one in which the Benue people—not a power broker—decide their governor.

It is time for all Benue sons and daughters to embrace developmental politics over power games. Politics should not merely be about elections or appointments, but about improving lives. That is the politics Governor Alia is modelling. That is the politics Benue must defend.

God willing, come 2027 and 2031, Governor Alia will still stand tall as a respected APC leader—no matter who wishes otherwise.

© Shilgba