A group, Benue Diaspora Vanguard has petitioned President Bola Tinubu and the leadership of the All Progressives Congress (APC) to make a statement on the leadership hierarchy of the party in the states with sitting governors.
The group maintained that it was important to refer to the precedent for making appointments into federal offices in the past administrations where slots due to each state were left to the sole discretion of sitting governors including the opposition governors.
It said it demand became imperative following the consistent onslaught against Governor Hyacinth Alia of Benue state by the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Senator George Akume.
Its Coordinator, Dr. Peter Aper in a statement issued Sunday decried theoverbearing influence of Akume in nominating people from Benue state for federal appointments.
The group stressed that It was therefore the highest form of injustice and injury to the state if Alia is denied such privilege because of the overbearing influence of the SGF.
Against this background, the group said it was a need for the President to direct a clear template on nominating appointees from states for federal appointments.
The group said in spite of several other appointments from the state, the governor had no single nominee or input on such appointments unlike what is obtainable in other states.
“Mr President, all federal government appointments so far from Benue do not have the imprimatur of the sitting governor who is by convention, protocol and hierarchy the leader of the party in the state. This should be corrected to bring stability in the polity and to preserve the future of APC in the state.
“Going forward Mr President, in order to restore the confidence of Benue people who voted for you massively, it is important to direct a clear template on nominating appointees from states for federal appointments. The template will eradicate the excessive influence of few people like Sen George Akume who undeservedly drop your name to strengthen their self-serving schemes.
“Clear authority must be reverted to the governors or the party as Mr President so directs. This would expand the inputs of governors in appointments and ensure a full sense of belonging. As it stands in the appointments from Benue so far , the SGF is only building himself and household against the collective interest of the state.
“We also appeal to Mr President as the leader of the party to make a statement on the leadership hierarchy of the party in the states with sitting governors. This would restore order and minimise incidents of factionalisation as experienced in most states such as Benue.”