Catholic priest Hyacinth Alia wins Benue State governorship election

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.

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The margin of win is 250,020 votes based on the total number of votes collated from 22 out of the 23 local government areas of Benue State.

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.

Kwande LGA has a total number of Permanent Voters Cards (PVCs) of 156,826, representing 91 per cent of 172,293 registered voters.

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.

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Infographic designed by Richard Akinwumi

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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.

Summary of 2023 Benue Governorship Election Results From 22 LGAs.

1. Apa, 11RAs

Reg voters:66,720.

Accre 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
Accre 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
Accre 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
Accre 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
Accre 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
Accre 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
Accre 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
ACCRE 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
Accre 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
Accre 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