2027 Politics: Group Warns APC Against Taking Tiv Support for Granted

From Dooshima Terkura, Makurdi

Ahead of the 2027 general elections, the Hembe/Abba Gubernatorial Campaign Organisation in Benue State has criticised the All Progressives Congress (APC) over the alleged exclusion of Tiv members from its recently released Presidential Campaign Council.

The organisation raised the concern in a statement titled “The APC Presidential Campaign Council: A Sign Of Things To Come,” signed by Sir Peter Vande.
It described the development as a deliberate political decision rather than an oversight, warning that it could have implications for the relationship between the Tiv people and the ruling party.
The statement said, “Nigeria’s political actors must be told, plainly and without diplomatic softening, that the Tiv nation is not a people to be sidelined and expected to smile through it.
“The recent release of the presidential campaign council list by the Tinubu APC has exposed a deliberate and calculated exclusion of the Tiv people from national reckoning.
“This is not an oversight. This is a message, and every Tiv person, every Benue son and daughter, must read it correctly. There will be no room for the Tiv if, God forbid, Tinubu is declared winner.”
According to the organisation, the Tiv people have made significant contributions to Nigeria’s unity and development and should not be treated as an afterthought in national political calculations.
The organisation also recalled an old Tiv story about a household of girls who had grown into marriageable age. It said all the girls were beautiful except one, and that on a fateful day, they went to a stream to fetch water, where some young men laid ambush to elope with them.
According to the story, the girls scattered in fright, while the one nobody was pursuing ran home shouting, “mba zendan se,” meaning “they are chasing after us,” thereby placing herself among those being sought when, in reality, nobody was after her.
The organisation cautioned, “Let no one mistake the Tiv people for that girl. We are not the unsought-after tribe running home with false alarm.
“We are the fourth largest tribe in Nigeria. We have shed blood and sweat for the unity of this country. We are, and have always been, a beautiful tribe that deserves to be courted diligently, not a bystander invited only when convenient.”
It further stressed that the Tiv people should not be likened to someone seeking attention where none exists, insisting that they are one of Nigeria’s major ethnic groups and deserve to be deliberately courted in the nation’s political process.
The organisation argued that the alleged exclusion of Tiv APC members from the Presidential Campaign Council should concern every serious-minded Tiv person, particularly those questioning whether the Tiv could expect adequate representation in government if President Bola Tinubu wins the 2027 election.
It said Rt. Hon. Herman Hembe remained committed to the welfare, security and political interests of the people of Benue, adding that fair representation should be a major consideration in determining political loyalty and electoral support.
“The arithmetic does not add up, and the intentions are becoming harder to disguise.
“As someone who has always held the wellbeing and security of the Benue people at heart, Rt. Hon. Herman Iorwase Hembe wishes to assure Benue people that fair representation matters, and that a ruling party which takes an entire people for granted cannot expect their loyalty or votes in return.
“The Tiv people gave much to this nation. We should not be reduced to an afterthought in the political calculations of those we have helped sustain,” the statement said.
The organisation also urged the people of Benue to consider the African Democratic Congress (ADC), whose presidential candidate, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, it described as a politician familiar with the concerns of the Tiv people.
It said an Atiku/Amaechi administration would restore the Tiv and Benue people to what it described as their rightful position in Nigeria’s political affairs, while claiming that Atiku had better plans for improving the lives of Nigerians.
The organisation concluded by declaring that the Tiv people were not “mba zendan se,” insisting that the ADC was the platform where they would be genuinely courted and represented.