TOR TIV, THE 2027 CAMPAIGN DG OF GOV ALIA
…Ayatse should learn from the mistake of Akawe Torkula
By Moses Kwaghgba
History has a way of repeating itself, sometimes in unpleasant circumstances that are avoidable and within the control of humans. The current Tor Tiv, His Royal Majesty, Prof. James Ayatse, is committing a blunder that he may never recover from and live to regret for the rest of his reign. It is a costly mistake that his predecessor, the late Tor, His Royal Majesty, Dr. Alfred Akawe Torkula, made.
In 2011, Governor Gabriel Suswam was seeking a second term. Governor Suswam recruited the then Tor Tiv, Torkula, who literally became the chief campaigner for Suswam. Torkula was aggressive in his utterances and bitterness towards the opposition Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) led in the state by Senator George Akume. The governorship candidate of ACN was Professor Steve Torkuma Ugbah.
In the month of March 2011, a high-powered ACN delegation made up of stalwarts of the party from all parts of the country visited Gboko for a mega rally of the party and, as it customary, the delegation had booked an appointment with the Tor Tiv for a courtesy call at his palace. But on getting to the Tor Tiv Palace, the delegation was barred from entry on the ground that the Tiv paramount ruler had traveled to London. It was a strange and shocking development.
A few days later, the Tor Tiv who was said to be in London, addressed a press conference in his palace in Gboko and rained curses on Senator Akume, claiming that Akume led the ACN on an invasion of his palace while he was away in London for medical treatment. On 25th March 2011, the Tor Tiv convened Ijirtamen – the Supreme Court of the Tiv nation, and summoned Senator Akume to appear and tender an apology to him.
Torkula declared that Akume would never win election in his life again! But the curse failed as Akume was re-elected as Senator that same year. The Tor Tiv went on to ask his people to reject the ACN and vote for Suswam, but again, to his shock and dismay; Suswam lost most of the Tiv local governments in the 2011 polls, implying that Tiv people were disappointed in the Tor Tiv’s involvement in partisan politics which he showed apparent bias.
In 2015, Tor Tiv Torkula again took sides with the ruling party PDP led by Governor Suswam and openly campaigned for the party’s gubernatorial candidate Terhemen Tarzoor, whom he fondly called his son. Torkula became visibly desperate! He vowed that over his dead body would the APC candidate Samuel Ortom win the election! He swore that it was easier for hair to grow on his palm than for Ortom to win the 2015 election! There is power in the tongue! The rest, as they say, is history. Ortom overwhelmingly won the election! Whether it was Tor Tiv Torkula’s dangerous vows and swears that took his life, no human being can tell. He died barely six months after the election.
Fast forward to 2025. The present Tor Tiv James Ayatse, a professor of many years who should know the importance of neutrality and fairness that his exalted office demands, is engrossed in similar if not worse mistakes that his predecessor Torkula made. Professor Ayatse has mounted the campaign rostrum to ensure that Governor Alia gets a second term in 2027. Ayatse has not only adorned the political toga, he has indeed appointed himself as the campaign Director General for Governor Alia, and like the late Tor Tiv Torkula, Prof. Ayatse has been speaking with the power of finality and vehemence like a political mobilizer on the podium of a campaign rally.
He has become Tor Pati.
Yesterday, the 14th of September, 2025, while addressing a congregation at NKST Church, Adikpo, Tor Tiv Ayatse threw caution to the winds and made the following statement:
“Do not stop anyone from contesting against Governor Alia in 2027; in fact, allow many aspirants to contest and we will show them when the time comes.”
Speaking to the people of Kwande, Ayatse said they should support only Alia and no other candidate in 2027.
Tor Tiv Ayatse hails from the Shangev-Ya part of Kwande Local Government Area of Benue State. The unholy alliance between Governor Alia and the Tor Tiv has denied Turan people of Kwande the opportunity to produce the current Council Chairman. The position has been wrongly and unfairly taken to Shangev-Ya, where the last council chairman came from.
It does not bother Ayatse that he is the Tor Tiv from Shangev-Ya; the Kwande local government Chairman is from Shangev-Ya, the current Commissioner of Justice, who is his younger brother, known as Yangien Ornguga Ayatse, is from Shangev-Ya, and the current Majority Leader of the Benue State House of Assembly, Thomas Dugeri, is also from Shangev-Ya, Ayatse’s side of Kwande. This is a man who calls himself a pastor. What level of hypocrisy and insincerity is Ayatse showing to the younger generation of Tiv people?
Tor Tiv Ayatse is the cheerleader and praise singer for Governor Alia. At every occasion, he is the one who provides the biggest praise for the governor, even when the need does not arise.
The inevitable question which Tor Tiv James Iorzua Ortese Ayatse should worry about is: what if Alia loses the 2027 election and one of those whom the Tor Tiv is working against and trying to destroy wins? Will the Tor Tiv go into exile or commit hara-kiri and follow the route to eternity like Akawe Torkula did?
Kwaghgba writes from Agedam in Gboko
