The All Progressives Congress (APC) Youth Vanguard has alleged that the party’s National Working Committee (NWC) is planning to substitute the Executive Secretary of the Nigerian Shippers Council, Barrister Pius Akutah, as the APC governorship candidate in Benue State.

In a statement issued in Abuja on Monday by its Secretary, Ms. Celestina Adoke, Esq., the group claimed the alleged move was aimed at preventing Governor Hyacinth Alia from exercising his right to seek re-election in the 2027 governorship election.

According to the group, a report is allegedly being prepared to suggest that Akutah appeared before the APC governorship screening committee, which it said screened and cleared Governor Alia, Kuraun Isaac, and Hon. Terwase Orbunde for the party’s primaries.

The APC Youth Vanguard maintained that only the three aspirants participated in and were cleared during the screening exercise conducted by the committee sent from Abuja, alleging that Akutah neither appeared before the panel nor took part in the process.

The group further alleged that any attempt by the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Senator George Akume, to secure the party’s governorship ticket for Akutah despite his alleged non-participation in the screening and primary process could trigger internal disputes and legal challenges capable of affecting the party’s chances in the general election.

It also claimed that Akutah did not resign from his position as Executive Secretary of the Nigerian Shippers Council within the timeline stipulated for political appointees seeking elective office ahead of the 2027 elections. The group further alleged that Akutah is currently attending an international maritime conference in London while still holding the federal appointment.

Additionally, the group alleged that any attempt to produce a screening committee report indicating that Akutah participated in the screening exercise would be improper and could have adverse consequences for the party.

The APC Youth Vanguard called on President Bola Tinubu to intervene by cautioning the APC National Chairman, Professor Nentawe Yilwatda, and members of the party’s National Working Committee against what it described as an illegal move in Benue State.

The Zamfara precedent should have been the loudest warning bell any political party could ever receive, yet it appears certain actors within the Benue APC either forgot the lesson or simply believed they were above it. In 2019, the All Progressives Congress swept every single elective position in Zamfara State, only to watch the courts strip the party of every seat won because of unresolved primaries controversies. That singular event remains one of the most painful lessons in the history of Nigerian party politics, a case where victory at the polls meant nothing because the party failed to settle its internal disputes before facing the electorate. It is what many now call the successful defeat, a party that won everything and lost everything in one court pronouncement.

It was precisely to avoid a repeat of that disaster that the APC strengthened its Appeal Committee, a body vested with the responsibility of reviewing complaints arising from primaries and resolving them with finality. This committee exists as the internal safeguard, the mechanism meant to catch and correct every irregularity before matters spiral into litigation that could embarrass the party nationally.

Going into the 2026 primaries, the APC made its position unmistakably clear. Results were not to be announced at state level. Everything was to be centrally coordinated and released only after all controversies had been addressed. This was not a suggestion, it was policy.

Yet in Benue, officials who supervised the primaries were allegedly pressured into announcing results prematurely, in open defiance of that directive and amid credible evidence of misconduct. This was done by elements who apparently regard presidential directives as optional suggestions rather than binding instructions from the leader of their own party.

It must be recalled that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu had personally intervened in the Benue APC crisis and handed down a clear directive: all elected officials of the party were to be returned automatically, unopposed and undisturbed. Chief Hyacinth Iormem Alia, a governor once described by Chief Gabriel Suswam as more powerful than God, appeared emboldened rather than restrained by that intervention. Rather than comply, he reportedly dismissed the presidential directive as mere prayers, fielded his own preferred candidates, and proceeded to manipulate the outcome of the primaries in his favour.

What followed was the proper constitutional response within the party structure. Appeals were filed before the Appeal Committee. Upon due consideration of the evidence, the committee ordered rectifications and forwarded fresh names to the Independent National Electoral Commission. It bears emphasis that those so called new names are not strangers to the party. They are the very officials the president had directed should be automatically returned. Their restoration, and the consequent removal of Alia’s placeholders, is not an act of party disloyalty. It is an act that vindicates internal discipline, protects the party’s transparency, and honours the chain of authority from the presidency downward.

Having taken that decision, the APC owes itself, and every Nigerian who still believes in due process, the duty to stand firmly behind the Appeal Committee’s verdict. Any pressure to reverse or dilute a decision that is already in effect would amount to inviting the ghost of Zamfara back into the room, only this time in Benue. The party constitution says the party is supreme. Benue should not be the state where that supremacy is tested and found wanting.

By: Fabian Apechihin

Former Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Babachir Lawal, has said that the influence and effectiveness of the Office of the SGF largely depend on how much authority the president chooses to delegate.

Speaking during an interview on Arise Television on Monday, Lawal explained the verification and appointment procedures followed by the SGF’s office when official correspondence is received from individuals claiming to head federal agencies.

Responding to a question on the verification process for letters from persons presenting themselves as heads of federal agencies, Lawal said the procedure varies depending on the style of the administration in power.

According to him, although Nigeria operates an executive presidential system with clearly defined responsibilities for the SGF, the actual powers exercised by the office are determined by the president.

“I think this depends on the government. We are running an executive presidential system of government, where whether or not you are allowed to do your duties depends on who occupies the topmost position,” he said.

Lawal argued that, in some administrations, individuals outside the official government structure wield powers that ordinarily belong to the SGF.

“Some SGFs just occupy the position while the authority is removed from them and given to some personal crony of a president. If the president’s method is like that, fine. But in our own case, the president allowed me to do my job completely.”

He further explained that one of the SGF’s key responsibilities is coordinating government activities and processing appointments into federal offices. However, he stressed that the president has the final authority to approve such appointments.

“Apart from coordinating the activities of government, part of it is appointments. The final approval lies with the president, but the appointment recommendations normally come through the office of the SGF, who puts up a memo to the president, and when the president approves, he sends the memo back to the SGF,” Lawal stated.