Ode dismisses claim of ‘automatic tickets’ for Benue lawmakers, says APC reconciliation communique still under review

By Tolu Temidire

Benue State Deputy Governor, Dr. Sam Ode, has dismissed reports claiming that the communique drafting committee at the recent All Progressives Congress (APC) reconciliation meeting approved automatic tickets for all serving APC members in the State and National Assemblies, stressing that no such resolution was reached and therefore couldn't have been reflected in the draft communique.

Dr. Ode, who chaired the Communique Drafting Committee, described the circulated report in selected dailies as a distortion of facts, noting that the committee only produced a draft document yet to be approved by the appropriate authorities.

Addressing journalists on Tuesday in Makurdi, the Deputy Governor explained that the reconciliation meeting held on May 3, 2026, at the instance of Governor Hyacinth Alia and the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Senator George Akume, merely set up a committee to draft a communique for further review.

“At the end of the meeting, a communique drafting committee was constituted, and I served as chairman. What we produced was a draft, which was forwarded to the Governor and the SGF for their inputs and approval,” he said.

He emphasized that the committee neither finalized nor signed any communique, stressing that only the conveners of the meeting have the authority to approve and endorse the final document.

“A communique drafting committee has no mandate to sign a communique for the entire body. The final document, when ready, must bear the signatures of the Governor and the SGF,” Ode stated.

Dismissing the claim of automatic tickets as false, the Deputy Governor maintained that the issue was never discussed, let alone approved.

“At no point did we mention automatic tickets for National or State Assembly members or any category of aspirants. There is nowhere in the draft where such was captured,” he said.

He further described the circulation of the alleged communique as suspicious, alleging that unknown individuals attached signatures from the committee’s attendance register to give credibility to the document.

“It is surprising that someone could take our attendance sheet, attach it to a purported communique, and release it to the public. That document is not authentic,” he added.

Ode also noted that the APC National Vice Chairman for the North-Central, Alhaji Mu’azu Rijau, had during the reconciliation meeting reaffirmed the party’s adoption of direct primaries for candidate selection, making the idea of automatic tickets untenable.

“There is no way we could have contradicted the party’s position on direct primaries by recommending automatic tickets,” he said.

Despite the controversy, the Deputy Governor described the reconciliation effort as a step in the right direction, even as he acknowledged that the progress would not sudden.

“Reconciliation is not an event; it is a process. The fact that stakeholders came together is a major achievement,” he noted.

He expressed confidence in the party’s electoral prospects, saying the APC would emerge victorious in future polls.

“We are optimistic of a landslide victory for our party, from the President to the Governor, based on performance and growing unity,” he added.

Also speaking, the Chief of Staff to the Governor, Barr. Moses Atagher, backed the Deputy Governor’s position, stating that the SGF did not at any time during the meeting advocate automatic tickets.

“The SGF only expressed a wish that lawmakers could be retained, but that must be in line with the party’s constitution and guidelines,” Atagher said.

He described the leak of the draft communique as premature and misleading, stressing that the document was still a work in progress awaiting approval.