Catholic priest Hyacinth Alia wins Benue State governorship election
By Adeniyi Ifetayo
Mr Alia of the APC scored 473,933 votes to beat Mr Uba of the PDP who polled 223,913 votes.
The All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate, Hyacinth Alia, has won the Benue State governorship election held on Saturday, 18 March.
Mr Alia, a Roman Catholic priest, defeated his closest challenger, Titus Uba of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). Mr Uba is the current Speaker of the Benue State House of Assembly.
Announcing the results of the governorship poll in Makurdi, the Benue State capital, on Monday, Faruk Kuta, the state collation and returning officer, said Mr Alia scored 473,933 votes to beat Mr Uba who polled 223,913 votes.
Giving the breakdown of the votes, Mr Kuta who is the vice-chancellor of the Federal University of Technology, (FUT) Minna, said the valid votes stood at 756,903, while the rejected votes were: 11,499. The total votes cast were: 768,402.
Citing section 24(1) of the Electoral Act (2022) and INEC Guidelines for the election, the State Returning Officer declared Mr Alia as the winner of the 2023 Benue State governorship election.
The governorship and state parliamentary election in Kwande Local Government Area was shifted to Tuesday, 21 March, due to printing errors in ballot papers that were discovered during the Saturday election.
Therefore, with the margin of lead put at 250,020 votes above the number of PVCs collected in the affected areas which stands at 156,826, Mr Alia was declared the winner by the electoral umpire.
On Sunday, INEC’s Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) in Benue State, Sam Egwu, said the winner of the governorship poll might be declared if the margin of win is greater than the number of registered voters who collected their PVCs in Kwande LGA.
Both Messrs Alia and Uba hail from Vandeikya Local Government Area of Benue State.
The Labour Party (LP) governorship candidate in Benue, Herman Hembe, came third in the race with 41,881 votes.
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) began the collation of Saturday’s governorship election at the Benue Governorship Election State Collation Centre in Makurdi, the state capital, on Sunday.
Kwande LGA has a total number of Permanent Voters Cards (PVCs) of 156,826, representing 91 per cent of 172,293 registered voters.
1. Apa, 11RAs
Reg voters:66,720.
Accredited voters: 17,435
APC: 7,925
LP: 465
PDP: 7,806
VALID VOTES: 6,520
Rejected votes: 485
Total voted cast: 17,005
2. Gwer West, 15 RAs
Reg Voters: 74,563
Accredited voters: 26,333
Votes by parties
APC: 10,947
LP: 1,509
PDP: 13,609
Valid votes: 26,155
Rejected Votes: 175
Votes cast: 26,330
3. Logo, 10RAs
Reg Voters: 114,100
Accredited voters: 33,114
Votes by parties
APC: 15,574
LP: 296
PDP: 16,385
Valid votes: 32,582
Rejected Votes: 509
Votes cast: 33,091
4. Ado LGA, 10RAs
Reg Voters: 83,199
Accredited voters: 14,811
Votes by parties
APC: 8,662
LP: 308
PDP: 4,379
Valid votes: 14,355
Rejected Votes: 448
Votes cast: 14803
5. Gwer East LGA, 14 RAs
Reg Voters: 99,851
Accredited voters: 34,111
Votes by parties
APC: 20,083
LP: 1,272
PDP: 12,085
Valid votes: 33,601
Rejected Votes: 283
Votes cast: 33,924
6. Agatu LGA, 10RAs
Reg Voters: 64,315
Accredited voters: 18,407
Votes by parties
APC: 7,482
LP: 216
PDP: 9,934
Valid votes: 17,943
Rejected Votes: 464
Votes cast: 18,407
7. Obi LGA, 12 RAs
Reg Voters: 69,126
Accredited voters: 17,759
Votes by parties
APC: 9,897
LP: 1185
PDP: 6,267
Valid votes: 17,519
Rejected Votes: 240
Votes cast: 17,759
8. Ukum, 13 RAs
Reg Voters: 142,119
Accre voters: 39,425
Votes by parties
APC: 28,503
LP: 439
PDP: 9,418
Valid votes: 38,640
Rejected Votes: 785
Votes cast: 39,425
9. Tarka LGA, 10RAs
Reg Voters: 55,464
Accre voters: 20,939
Votes by parties
APC: 16,422
LP: 175
PDP: 3,748
Valid votes: 20,632
Rejected Votes: 299
Votes cast: 20,931
10. Buruku LGA, 13 RAs
Reg Voters: 129,696
Accredited Voters: 46,418
Votes by parties
APC: 34,713
LP: 1,155
PDP: 9,513
Valid Votes: 45,937
Rejected Votes: 470
Votes cast: 46,407
11. Katsina-Ala LGA, 12 RAs
Reg Voters: 168,318
Accre Voters: 42,189
Votes by parties
APC: 34,347
LP: 178
PDP: 6,716
Valid Votes: 41,669
Rejected Votes: 520
Votes cast: 42,189
12. Gboko LGA, 17 RAs
Reg voters: 249,636
Accre voters: 77,230
Votes by parties
APC: 53,985
LP: 1,493
PDP: 18,773
Valid votes: 75,316
Rejected votes: 1261
Votes cast: 76,577
13. Ohimini LGA, 10RAs
Reg Voters: 46,713
Accredited voters: 15,918
Votes by parties
APC: 7,233
LP: 973
PDP: 6,785
Valid votes: 15,751
Rejected Votes: 157
Votes cast: 15,908
14. Guma LGA
REG Voters: 114,054
Accredited voters: 38,889
Votes by parties
APC: 15,371
LP: 535
PDP: 22,083
Valid votes: 38,239
Rejected Votes: 505
Votes cast: 38,744
15. Ushongo LGA, 11 RAs
Reg Voters: 11769
Accre voters 43228
APC: 31946
LP: 913
PDP: 8879
Valid votes: 38,239
Rejected Votes: 505
Votes cast: 38,744
Valid votes: 42656
Rejected Votes: 566
Votes cast: 43221
16. Ogbadibo LGA, 13 RAs
Reg Voters: 72,231
Accre voters: 16,242
Votes by parties
APC: 7,627
LP: 405
PDP: 6,032
Valid votes: 15,843
Rejected Votes: 399
Votes cast: 16,242
17. Oju LGA, 11 RAs
Reg Voters: 110,166
Accre voters: 28,576
Votes by parties
APC: 17,245
LP: 1,611
PDP: 8,811
Valid votes: 28,142
Rejected Votes: 433
Votes cast: 28,575
18. Makurdi LGA, 11RAs
Reg voters: 305,600
Accre voters: 76,026
Votes by parties
APC: 56,432
LP: 3,792
PDP: 12,329
Rejected votes: 1,343.
19. Vandeikya
In Vandeikya, the governorship result is as follows:
Alia: 46,786
Uba: 12,988
Hembe: 129
20. Otukpo LGA, 13 RAs
Reg voters: 149,987
Accre voters: 37,567
Rejected Votes: 658
Votes by parties
APC: 19,430
LP: 2,187
PDP: 12,834
21. Konshisha LGA, 11RAs
Reg voters: 131,461
Accre voters: 43,779
Rejected Votes: 673
Votes by parties
APC: 13,997
LP: 21,606
PDP: 5, 905
22. Okpokwu LGA, 12RAs
Reg voters: 76,366
Accre voters: 19,544
Rejected votes: 221
Votes by parties
APC: 9,326
LP: 1,039
PDP: 8,634
Source: Premium Times on line
