Nigeria’s former Minister of Justice Michael Aondoakaa, has called on Benue State Governor Hyacinth Alia to take the lead in reconciling with the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), George Akume, in line with President Bola Tinubu’s directive for unity within the party.
Speaking in an interview with ARISE NEWS on Tuesday regarding the deepening crisis within the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Benue State, Aondoakaa stressed that the president has already directed party leaders to pursue reconciliation and that it is incumbent on the governor, as the state party leader, to initiate the process.
“There should be reconciliation,” Aondoakaa said, emphasising that sitting down to resolve differences does not imply that anyone is attempting to undermine the governor’s authority. According to him, the president’s directive is clear, and implementing it requires proactive leadership at the state level. “If the president directed that there should be reconciliation, sitting down together to do the reconciliation does not in any way mean that somebody is trying to laud over the governor.”
He argued that it would be inappropriate to expect the 72-year-old SGF to spearhead the reconciliation effort by repeatedly invoking the president’s instruction, adding that any move by Akume to push the directive could be misconstrued as an attempt to assert dominance.
He said, “Coming to the SGF by matter of his age and coming to say ‘look, the president has said we should reconcile, when are we reconciling,’ does not in any way mean that he’s deferring to the authority of the SGF or in any way mean that the SGF is lauding it over him. It’s just out of real respect. Do you expect somebody of 72 years to go running round and saying ‘the president says we should reconcile?’”
Aondoakaa maintained that reaching out to the SGF in the spirit of respect and unity would not amount to deference but rather demonstrate political maturity. He urged both leaders to sit together and normalize their relationship to strengthen the party ahead of the 2027 general elections.
“My take is that they should sit down together and try to normalise this position in a manner that we prepare ourselves for the 2027 election in Benue State for the APC to be victorious,” he said.
Melissa Enoch
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