By Nifemi Adefemi
(with Agency reports)
Reverend Father Hyacinth Alia of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Benue state, has been declared the winner of the state governorship election.
This marks a comeback for the APC in the state, which it had lost to the incumbent Governor, Samuel Ortom.
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) which announced the results on Monday, March 20, 2023, said Alia secured the highest number of votes, defeating his closest rival, the incumbent speaker of the Benue assembly and Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate, Engr. Titus Uba. Alia had a margin of 251,020 votes over Uba.
Prof. Adamu Farouk Kuta, the Vice Chancellor of Federal University of Technology, Minna, and the Returning Officer for the Governorship Election in Benue, declared Alia the winner with a total of 473,933 votes, while Uba received 223,913 votes. Heman Hembe of the Labour Party trailed with 41,881 votes.
According to reports, Alia won the majority of the votes in 17 local government areas (LGAs) out of the 23 in the state, while Uba won in four LGAs. The LP candidate won in one local government area, and other parties did not win any LGAs.
Although elections did not hold in Kwande LGA due to a printing error discovered on the ballot sheets, Prof. Kuta explained that the setback could not affect the declaration of the entire results of the election since the margin of the winning party far exceeded the registered voters in Kwande LGA. He declared Alia the winner at exactly 5:47 pm on Monday.