Ahead of the 2027 general elections, a crisis is developing within the All Progressives Congress (APC) chapter in Benue State as a result of Daniel Onyirofie Onjeh, one of the senatorial candidates, rejecting the party’s purported endorsement of former lawmaker Francis Ottah Agbo as the preferred candidate for Benue South.
Benue South is one among the crucial districts anticipated to produce candidates for the 2027 elections, according to reports that the APC is holding its senatorial primaries nationwide today.
On Saturday night, however, there were rumors that Prince Moses Ternenge, a political friend of Governor Hyacinth Alia, had supported Ottah Agbo as the chosen candidate for the Benue South senatorial seat.
Former House of Representatives member Ottah Agbo joined the APC after losing the 2022 Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) ticket.
Later on, his defection made it possible for Philip Agbese to join the APC before switching to the Labour Party.
Onjeh responded to the incident by criticizing Prince Moses Ternenge, a politician from Benue North East Senatorial District (Zone A), for allegedly meddling in the political affairs of Benue South Senatorial District (Zone C) in a video that was uploaded to his Facebook page.
He asserts that Benue South has a sufficient number of competent people who can decide its political course independently.
“With its variety of academic doctors and professors, Benue South, Zone C, cannot be forced to accept a senatorial candidate by Prince Moses Ternenge, a Tiv man from Benue North East, Zone A,” Onjeh stated.
The APC leader also made fun of an unidentified candidate who was purportedly being promoted within the party as a “anointed candidate.”
He charged that the candidate had switched from the PDP to the APC without bringing any grassroots support or political structure.
The assertion made by certain candidates that someone is the anointed candidate is even more absurd. He said, “The individual came to the APC with no supporters from his former party, PDP, and hopes to reap where he did not sow.”
Onjeh went on to say that the race for the Benue South senatorial ticket shouldn’t jeopardize the political networks and supporters that have been established over the years.
He went on, “You cannot come and rest on the followership that others have built over the years to run the senatorial race.”
