Police authorities in Benue State have again prevented the Austin Agada-led state executive committee of the All Progressives Congress (APC) from meeting at the state secretariat located along JS Tarka Way in Makurdi, the state capital.
This is the second time in two months the state executive committee of the party has been denied access to its secretariat named Ahmed Tinubu House, follow a letter written by Paul Biam, the Chief of Staff to Governor Hyacinth Alia, directing the police to enforce the court order sacking Agada from office as chairman of the party.
APC loyal to Governor Alia subsequently announced the state welfare secretary of the party, Benjamin Omakolo, as the acting state chairman with a directive to recognise him as the authentic chairman of the party in Benue state.
While the National Working Committee of the party had issued a directive to Governor Alia and Agada to reconcile all members within fourteen days and withdraw all litigations in court, that directive is yet to be complied with.
This is because the legitimacy of Austin Agada which the National Working Committee upheld is still being questioned by the Benjamin Omakolo-led APC loyal to the governor.
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The renewed political tension in Makurdi is a result of the invitation by the Agada state executive committee to convene a meeting to prepare for the July local government election scheduled by the Benue State Independent Electoral Commission.
Speaking with Channels Television on the telephone, the Benue State APC Publicity Secretary, Dan Ihomun, says police have prevented them from accessing the party’s secretariat.
“The police today prevented us from holding an official meeting of the party at our state secretariat but we are determined to hold the meeting no matter what happened,” he said.
The intra-party dispute between loyalists of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation which Austin Agada leads at the state executive committee and those led by Omakolo who is loyal to Governor Alia has left the party divided since the governor assumed power on May 29th 2023.
