Alia became governor through Akume’s structure – Aondoakaa

Former Attorney-General of the Federation and ex-Minister of Justice, Michael Aondoakaa, SAN, has asserted that Benue State Governor Hyacinth Alia’s rise to power was largely made possible by the influence and support of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), George Akume.

Speaking during an appearance on Arise Television’s Morning Show, Aondoakaa maintained that the political bloc led by Akume was instrumental in securing Alia’s victory.

He argued that prior to the election, the governor, a Catholic priest, did not have a personal political machinery capable of delivering either the party primary or the general election.

He stressed the importance of loyalty, discipline, and adherence to party resolutions, particularly those of the National Executive Committee (NEC), noting that the All Progressives Congress (APC) functions as a structured and coordinated political organisation across the country.

Aondoakaa cautioned that Benue should not detach itself from the party’s national framework, warning that unresolved internal disagreements could weaken the APC’s prospects in future polls.

He said: “You see, we have to have something, gratitude, loyalty, discipline.

The parties all over the world cherish discipline, and we have an organized APC throughout the country that relies extremely on discipline and loyalty. Where there’s a decision of NEC of the party, it does appear to everybody that that decision should be respected.

And if you check across the country, that is exactly what happened.

“So Benue cannot be an isolation from other states. You see party politics, you are bound to have pressure groups within the party, but they should not escalate in the manner that it will distort the chances of the party in the forth coming election in our state.

“It will be state fight with a group that produced the governor, and the group that actually produced the current governor is Senator George Akume.

“The governor was a respected Catholic priest, so he had no party structure that we could have taken him to winning election or winning the party primary.

So it is that group that produced the election, that had two senators, had nine House of Representatives members.”