Fresh crisis over running mate rocks Benue APC

The choice of Benson Abounu as the running mate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) governorship candidate in Benue, State Samuel Ortom, weekend, deepened the crises in the party and threatens to weaken its chances in the forthcoming elections in the state.

Already, the party has been enmeshed in a legal battle over Ortom’s emergence as its governorship candidate, while the party’s other candidates were also fighting to retain their tickets as aggrieved aspirants seek redress for alleged injustice done to them.

Holding placards with different inscriptions on Saturday, a group of protesters from the Idoma speaking Benue south senatorial district thronged the Makurdi residence of the party leader in the state and Senate minority leader George Akume to express their grievances.

The protesters made available to our correspondent a letter of complaint dated January 3, 2015 and addressed to Akume and the state party chairman Abba Yaro. The letter was signed by Patrick Ukwenya, APC chairman in Okpokwu Local Government Area and his counterpart in Apa, Baba Salami as well as other stakeholders of the district.

They said elders of the party were not carried along in the decision making process that brought Abounu as running mate to Ortom.

The letter read in part: “The adoption of Abounu as the deputy governorship candidate of the APC in the state is a political misnomer and a calculated attempt to make the party lose at the forthcoming general elections.

“Without any fear of contradiction, Abounu has never assumed any leadership role in the party in Idoma land and has never made any substantial sacrifice in bringing all members of the party together in Zone C and as such will not enjoy the support of party faithful and electorates in the forthcoming elections.”

But when contacted, Abounu described the protesters as “impostors,” saying he has made his mark in the Idoma land.

He said that the petition against him by the same group which called for his replacement was signed by faceless people and obviously instigated by a self-serving selfish politician who lost out in the bid to be nominated for the position.

He said: “The current women leader of the Otukpo local government chapter of APC is Joy Odeh and not Oowoh Okpani who signed the petition so also is Emmanuel Iduh who signed for Otukpo in place of Abu Eigege and that Boniface Okloho who signed as chairman of Ohimini. They are impostors who have signed the petition.”