The operatives of the Department of State Security Services, DSS has laid a manhunt on embattled former Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP in Benue State, over Alleged impersonation.

A highly placed Security source on Thursday, confirmed to our correspondent that the service is currently looking for Dr. Emmanuel Agbo for impersonating himself as the Governorship candidate of the People’s Democratic Party in Benue state.

The source said that Dr. Agbo, must be interrogated to enable the service have an idea were his candidature was decided as well as venue it took place.

He further added that from preliminary findings Agbo, is playing a role of a ” useful idiot ” been sponsored by political bigwigs in the state that must be unravel by the service.

He queried that all the primary election that took place across the 36 states of the Federation including the Federal Capital Territory was monitored by the DSS and reports were filed including that of Benue State which officially in the PDP, the former Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Michael Kaase Aondoakaa, SAN emerged.

Already, a political pressure group has petitioed, Dr. Emmanuel Agbo who they Alleged he is now parading a “fake” Certificate of Return as the party’s candidate is just an “impostor” who didn’t participate in the party’s primaries in May, 2026.

“The Certificate of Return which the disbanded Turaki-led Interim National Executive Council presented to Dr. Agbo yesterday is fake and will not be recognized by the Independent National Electoral Commission during the uploading of party candidates on their portal” the group noted.

The group however challenged Agbo to present evidence that he partook in the said primaries, and also make available proofs that representatives of the Independent National Electoral Commission, officials of the party from Abuja as well as representatives of Nigeria’s security agencies were present in his own selection process if there is any.

The group stated further that there are proofs that Dr. Emmanuel Agbo is being sponsored by some “disgruntled” elements to ruin the chances of the People’s Democratic Party in the forthcoming governorship election in Benue state.

The statement reads in parts:”Emmanuel Agbo has been warned to desist from this act of impersonation before it’s too late, and if he fails to stop this act, we shall drag him before a competent court to face criminal charges.

“That he is being sponsored to ruin the chances of the party is no longer a secret but, we will make sure that we stop him and his co-travellers who are hell bent on destroying the party”

By Aondoakaa Tersugh Daniel | 22/06/2026

The moment Chief Hyacinth Iormen Alia took his oath of office, he turned his guns on Senator George Akume without any visible provocation, and the confusion that followed has lingered ever since. Akume himself could not hide his bewilderment. He has been quoted saying that people should pray for Father, because the man fighting him is not the Father he used to know. Yet a closer look into Alia’s family history reveals that this hostility is not new at all. It is simply genetics finding its way back to the surface.

Decades ago, when Senator Joseph Sarwuan Tarka championed the United Middle Belt Congress and became the face of that movement, Thomas Kastina Alia rose as his fiercest opponent within Benue. The elder Alia went as far as planting the headquarters of Nnamdi Azikiwe’s NCNC, the opposition party of that era, right inside Aliade, the very heartland of Tarka’s Masev support base. The rivalry between the two men was bitter and beyond repair.

As though that chapter of hostility was not enough, another figure emerged to continue the assignment. While Tarka served as a Minister, Godwin Dabo raised allegations of corruption against him, a move that eventually forced Tarka to resign from his position. That blow is widely remembered as one of the most damaging episodes of Tarka’s political career.

This raises a question the Kunav elite of today owe the younger generation an answer to. What truly happened between the Kunav and Jemgbagh people that birthed this chain of political vendetta? Thomas Alia, a Kunav son, frustrated Tarka of Jemgbagh first. Then it was as if a baton had been quietly passed to Godwin Dabo to finish the job. Both men were not only of Kunav extraction but shared the same Kyan constituency, a detail too specific to ignore.

It becomes difficult to understand why Akume, who descends directly from Tarka’s lineage, did not study this history closely enough to avoid walking into the same trap that Alia represents. There is an old saying that a blind man does not allow his roasted groundnuts to burn twice. If the first batch is ruined, he learns to manage the fire better on the second attempt, ensuring it comes out either half done or perfectly roasted. Akume has now looked history squarely in the face and still ended up handing power to the son of Tarka’s oldest political enemy.

So when people call this current war between Akume and Alia madness, they are not entirely wrong, but it is madness with deep roots. It is nothing more than a genetic expression of rivalry that has existed for generations, simply resurfacing in a new political season. Akume owes the memory of Tarka a final reckoning. The score can only be balanced if Akume does to Hyacinth Iormen Alia exactly what Godwin Dabo once did to Tarka.

The attention of the immediate past Governor of Benue State, Chief Samuel Ortom has been drawn to the fanfare surrounding the submission of the report of the so-called Benue State Income and Expenditure Commission of Inquiry to the Benue State Government.

Ordinarily, Chief Ortom would have ignored yet another episode in the Hyacinth Alia administration’s continued obsession with his predecessor’s government. However, the desperate attempt to confer legitimacy on a process that is fundamentally flawed, legally challenged, and politically motivated compels a response.

Let it be stated clearly that what the people of Benue witnessed today was not an exercise in accountability. It was the culmination of a carefully scripted political witch-hunt designed from the outset to indict the government of Chief Samuel Ortom at all costs.

The public may recall that the Alia administration initially constituted two probe panels to investigate the immediate past administration. Those panels became the subject of legal challenge, and notices were duly served on the government. Rather than allow the courts to determine the issues raised, the administration dissolved the original panels and constituted a new one under a different name.

Even the current Commission whose report was presented today was served with notices arising from pending legal proceedings challenging the legitimacy of the exercise.

More importantly, there is a subsisting matter before the Court of Appeal on the same issues, with hearing scheduled for June 29, 2026. In addition, the Benue State Government itself approached the Supreme Court to challenge an Appeal Court decision that nullified the constitution of its probe panels established to investigate the previous administration.
The matter appeal remains pending before the apex court.

It is therefore astonishing that a government which voluntarily submitted itself to the jurisdiction of the courts would, in the same breath, proceed as though those judicial processes do not exist. This conduct betrays a disturbing lack of confidence in the judiciary and amounts to executive rascality of the highest order.

Rather than await the outcome of matters pending before competent courts, Governor Alia and his administration chose to abandon the path of law and embark on a media spectacle intended to achieve through propaganda what they have been unable to achieve through due process.

The timing of this so-called report is not accidental.

After three years in office, Governor Alia’s administration has little to showcase in terms of tangible achievements. Faced with mounting public concerns over insecurity, the plight of internally displaced persons, declining public confidence, industrial disputes in the education sector, and questions surrounding the management of enormous financial resources that have accrued to the state between May 29, 2023 and now, the government has resorted to making the Ortom administration the centrepiece of its governance agenda.

Whenever questions are asked about the over ₦1.3 trillion that has accrued to Benue State under the present administration, Governor Alia and his appointees quickly blame Ortom.

Whenever the administration struggles to explain its performance after three years in office, it blames Ortom.

Whenever insecurity worsens and communities continue to suffer attacks, the Alia government blames Ortom.

Whenever public dissatisfaction grows, it blames Ortom.

Indeed, no week appears to pass without Governor Alia or his appointees launching one media attack or another against the immediate past Governor.

The unfortunate reality is that Governor Alia has become more interested in prosecuting media battles against his predecessor than in addressing the serious challenges confronting Benue State.

Accountability cannot be achieved through predetermined conclusions. Justice cannot emerge from a process whose outcome was written long before the first witness was called.

Chief Ortom remains confident that the financial activities of his administration were conducted within the framework of the law and established governmental procedures. Under his watch, government accounts were subjected to statutory audits annually which were published in several national newspapers, budgets were regularly presented and passed, financial records were maintained by relevant institutions, and government transactions were conducted through established public service structures.

The former Governor has nothing to hide and he remains proud of his record in office and remains committed to the rule of law. He has absolute confidence that no amount of political persecution, propaganda, or manufactured reports can alter the facts of his administration’s stewardship.

He therefore urges the people of Benue State to see that phantom report for what it truly is: a desperate attempt to divert attention from the failures of the current administration and a politically motivated campaign targeted at a predecessor whose only offence is having served the state before Governor Alia.

Rather than weaponizing probes against the previous government, the Alia administration should account for the ₦1.3 trillion that has accrued to it in the last three years. Accountability begins with explaining your own record, not attacking others.

Signed:

Zege Paul Terhide
Media Assistant to Chief Samuel Ortom
June 20, 2026