The former Legal Adviser of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Benue State, Hon. Omale. Omale Omale, has petitioned President Bola Tinubu and the party’s National Chairman, Prof. Nentawe Yilwatda, over what he described as an imbalance in the rotation of the House of Representatives seat for the Apa/Agatu Federal Constituency.

Omale, who is also a former Benue Commissioner for Power, Renewable Energy and Transport, urged the President and the APC national chairman to urgently intervene and ensure that the zoning arrangement between the two local government areas is respected ahead of the 2027 general elections.

He warned that failure to address the issue could fuel resentment among APC members in Apa Local Government Area and negatively affect the party’s electoral fortunes in the constituency.

The former APC legal adviser made the demand in a petition he personally signed on behalf of aggrieved APC members in the constituency and addressed to President Tinubu and Yilwatda.

A copy of the petition was made available to newsmen on Tuesday in Abuja.

In the petition, Omale presented what he described as the political history of the occupation of the Apa/Agatu Federal Constituency seat from 1999 to 2027.

He said Rt. Hon. (Engr.) Solomon Agidani of Agatu Local Government Area represented the constituency from 1999 to 2011, a period of 12 years.

According to him, Rt. Hon. Adamu Entonu of Apa LGA represented the constituency between 2011 and 2019, while Hon. Godday Odagboyi Samuel of Agatu LGA represented the constituency from 2019 to 2023.

He added that Hon. Ojotu Ojema, also from Agatu LGA, was elected in 2023 and would hold the seat until 2027.

“From the above therefore, from 1999 – 2027, the seat of Apa/Agatu Federal Constituency is occupied for a period of 20 years by the people of Agatu Local Government Area and just eight years by her counterpart of Apa Local Government Area.

“This difference and imbalance is much, unjust, unfair and inequitable in the circumstance,” Omale said.

He argued that the disparity amounted to a departure from the zoning arrangement agreed by stakeholders in the constituency and called on the APC leadership to correct the situation before the next election.

Omale further alleged that the APC had produced a candidate for the 2027 House of Representatives election whose emergence, according to him, did not reflect the zoning understanding in the constituency.

He alleged that the candidate was not a member of the APC until around November 10, 2025, and claimed that, through the influence of a traditional ruler, the candidate allegedly misled the Benue State Governor and party leadership on the zoning arrangement.

The former commissioner warned that the development could generate political backlash against the APC in the constituency and affect President Tinubu’s re-election bid in 2027.

He urged the President and the national chairman to consider the political implications of the dispute and ensure that the Apa component of the constituency was allowed to produce the representative in accordance with the alleged zoning agreement.

Omale also referred to a 2010 zoning agreement reached by political leaders and stakeholders in the Apa/Agatu Federal Constituency, saying the document provided an important basis for determining the rotation of the federal constituency’s representative.

According to him, the agreement was designed to ensure fairness and equity between Apa and Agatu LGAs.

He further claimed that other political parties had recognised the arrangement by zoning their 2027 House of Representatives tickets to Apa LGA, alleging that the APC was the only major political party in the constituency that had failed to follow the arrangement.

“This prolonged imbalance is gradually creating feelings of exclusion and resentment that threatens the unity which the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, that of our party, APC, and the administration Mr. President advocates,” he said.

Omale said his petition was made in the interest of fairness, equity, justice and political inclusion, stressing that the matter should be resolved before it escalated into a wider political crisis within the party.

He appealed to Tinubu and Yilwatda to intervene and ensure that the zoning arrangement was honoured by allowing Apa LGA to take its turn in the representation of the federal constituency.

He said such an intervention would help strengthen internal cohesion within the APC and prevent the issue from becoming a source of electoral disadvantage for the party.

“And unless this imbalance is addressed now, to allow for the Apa turn in honour of the zoning agreement by our party, we may not be responsible for the electoral misfortune that may happen to APC in the Apa/Agatu Federal Constituency come 2027 general elections,” Omale warned.

The petition adds to growing political manoeuvring within parties ahead of the 2027 general elections, with zoning and power rotation arrangements increasingly becoming major issues in the selection of candidates for elective positions.