The State Executive Committee of the All Progressives Congress in Benue late hours of Wednesday ratified the appointment of Benjamin Omakolo as the party’s acting chairman.
The meeting which held at the old banquet hall of the government house lasted till 10:45 pm and was presided by the State Governor, Rev Fr Hyacinth Alia.
The state executive committee comprises the state executive, principal officers of the State Assembly, the state working committee and local government party chairmen and secretaries.
Speaking, Governor Alia stated that the meeting which was conveyed at his instance was to fill the vacuum created by the suspension of the state chairman of the party, Austin Agada by his ward executive, Ihaje ward council.
The governor stated that the situation became necessary following the court order which restrained the suspended chairman from parading himself as party chair.
He said, “Most people, particularly, elders from Zone C, having seen the unfolding event in the party called me and said that we should not allow this party to sink because everyone worked tirelessly for the victory of the party.
” It holds prospective future of late but the suspension of Agada by his ward exco is worrisome and the court decision restraining him from parading himself as chairman has created a vacuum.
“And party elders from Zone C wanted the replacement, we can’t wait further to fill the space for the party to function well.
“It became an honor for me to fill the vacant position, it behooves me to now call Benjamin Omakolo the current welfare officer of the state committee to take over pending when court issues are resolved.
“It is necessary that APC members in the state will not be disenfranchised, the acting chairman will have to take over to oversee the affairs of the party
Earlier, the party organising secretary in the state, James Orgunga, lamented that the party in the state had been in disarray since the suspension of the party chairman and subsequent court order which stopped the chairman from carrying out activities.
He noted that for a while, the provision of the party constitution to hold state executive committee meetings to be presided over by the governor had been violated.
He said that the state working committee members were in the seat of power at the instance of the governor and were waiting to hear from him.
In their separate remarks, the Speaker of the Benue State House of Assembly, Aondona Dajoh, the Secretary of the APC in Ogbadibo Local Government, Comrade Abba Isaiah, and the Chairman of the APC in Konshisha Local Government, all appreciated the zone (C) APC stakeholders for mounting pressure on the governor to fill the vacant position of the state chairman.
In his acceptance speech, the acting State Chairman of the All Progressives Congress Benjamin Omakolo said he was overwhelmed by the trust the party faithful in the state reposed in him, promising to unite the party, strategically placing it in a position to win more elections in the future.
The party had since the assumption of the present administration been enmeshed in an internal crisis orchestrated by loyalists of both the governor and Secretary to the government of the Federation, Senator George Akume.
However, both leaders at separate fora have dismissed it accusing political jobbers of being behind what they described as rumour.