Rev Fr Alia wins Benue APC governorship re-run primary election

Reverend Father Hyacinth Alia has won the All Progressive Congress, APC, re-run governorship primary election conducted in 11 Local Government Areas of Benue State.

Alia polled 410,682 votes to beat his closet rival, Barrister Sam Ode, who polled 22,319.

The Chairman of the Benue State Governorship Rescheduled Primary Elections Committee of the APC, Senator Basheer Lado, made the declaration on Friday in Makurdi.

The re-run election followed the order of the Appeal Court in Makurdi Division that the APC conduct fresh primary elections in 137 wards of 11 LGAs in a judgement of a case filed by one of the aspirants, Prof Terhemba Shija.

The Appeal court had ordered that the re-run election results be added to the previous outcome of 12 LGAs primaries to make up the entire 23 LGAs of the state before declaration of the highest votes scorer as winner.

To this end, Lado declared Alia, who polled 410,682 votes to beat his closet rival, Barr Sam Ode, who scored 22,319 as winner of the primary election conducted on Thursday in the affected areas.

Lado also disclosed that the total number of registered voters of the party for the election in the 23 LGAs of the state stood at 868,010.

The committee chairman listed votes scored by each of the aspirants in the 23 LGAs of the state after summing the total as; Mathias Ibuan polled 14,593 votes; Architect Bernard Yisa, 581 votes; Senator Barnabas Gemade, 5,125 votes; Terlumun Ikya, 2,851 votes and Barr Sam Ode polled 22,319 votes.

Others are Rev Fr Hyacinth Alia, 410,682 votes; Michael Kaase Aondoakaa (SAN), 3,815 votes; Godwin Tyoachimin, 1,139.votes; Steven Lawani, 21,172 votes; Prof Terhemba Shija, 2,217 votes; Mlanga, 219 votes; Terwase Orbunde, 1,391 votes, while Herman Hembe polled 638 votes.

He therefore said, “With this document before me, I hereby declare Rev Fr Hyacinth Iormem Alia who scored a total number of 410,682 votes; having scored the highest number of votes as the winner of this election.”

Meanwhile, the party held a Special Congress shortly after the declaration of the results during which it affirmed the candidacy of Father Alia as duly elected to fly the party’s flag in the March 11, governorship election.

Apart from releasing the results for the 23 LGAs of the state, the Committee also released the results for re-run in the 11 LGAs.
During the re-run election, Rev Fr Hyacinth Alia polled, 219,002 votes; Architect Bernard Yisa, 136 votes; Sam Ode, 255 votes; Mathia Ibuan, 4,797 votes; Michael Kaase Aondoakaa, 606 votes and Senator Barnabas Gemade, 450 votes.

Others are Herman Hembe, 688 votes; Terwase Orbunde, 2 votes; Steven Lawani, 120 votes; Mlanga, 766 votes; Terhemba Shija, 219 votes and Godwin Tyoachimin, 454 votes.