MARKUDI/Nigeria: Ahead of the 2027 general elections, the national leadership of all support groups within the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) has called on President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and the party’s National Chairman, Dr. Abdullahi Umar Ganduje, to urgently intervene in the ongoing judiciary crisis in Benue State. They warned that failure to act could pose a serious threat to democracy.
The APC support groups raised concerns that opposition parties might exploit the crisis to frustrate the performance of the APC-led government in Benue State and use it as a political weapon against President Tinubu ahead of 2027.
Speaking at a press conference at the APC national secretariat in Abuja, the Director-General of the support groups, Dr. Ak Peters, insisted that all party members must respect the decisions of the National Working Committee (NWC) and the National Executive Committee (NEC).
He recalled that the NWC, acting on the authority of the NEC, had dissolved the Benue State APC executive led by Hon. Austin Agada and replaced it with a unity caretaker committee in February 2024 to resolve internal disputes. However, Agada challenged this decision in court, leading to fresh tensions within the party.
“As leaders of APC support groups, we are disappointed that the former chairman took the party to court instead of exhausting internal mechanisms as required by the party’s constitution,” Peters said. “The national leadership must defend its decision and assert party supremacy.”
The support groups accused the Benue State Chief Judge of being used by opposition forces to destabilize the APC government in the state and undermine President Tinubu’s administration.
“We strongly call on our national leadership, President Tinubu, and Dr. Ganduje to act immediately before anti-democratic forces hijack the situation,” Peters stated. “It is clear that the Chief Judge is facilitating a plot to weaken our party and frustrate our government in Benue State.”
The group further condemned the relocation of the Benue State Local Government Elections Petition Tribunal from Makurdi to Abuja, alleging that the Chief Judge violated legal provisions by granting waivers to petitioners and bypassing due process.
“There is no section of the law that allows the Chief Judge to move a tribunal outside its jurisdiction,” the group said. “Legal experts have pointed out that any decision taken by the tribunal in Abuja is null and void since local government election petitions must be handled in the state where the election was conducted.”
They also questioned the Chief Judge’s claims of insecurity as the reason for relocating the tribunal, arguing that he continued to operate from his office in Benue despite being purportedly removed by the state House of Assembly.
“The Benue State government has assured the public that it can provide adequate security for the tribunal, yet the Chief Judge insists on moving it to Abuja,” Peters noted. “This is nothing but an attempt to blackmail President Tinubu’s administration under the guise of hardship.”
The group urged President Tinubu to intervene to prevent further damage to the party’s structure in Benue and ensure that the judiciary does not become a tool for political manipulation.
“This is not just about Benue State; it is about upholding democracy and protecting the integrity of our party ahead of the 2027 elections,” Peters declared.
