BREAKING: INEC Declares Catholic Priest Winner Of Benue Gubernatorial Race

INEC has declared a Catholic Priest Winner of Benue Gubernatorial Race.

 

NewsOnline reports that the gubernatorial candidate of the All Progressive Congress, APC, in Benue state, Rev. Fr. Hyacinth Alia, has been declared the winner of last Saturday’s governorship elections in the state by the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC.

 

The APC candidate defeated his closest rival, Mr. Titus Uba of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, who came a distant second, with a margin of 251,020 votes.

Declaring the result of the election, the State Returning Officer, Professor Farouk Kuta, said he was relying on the “provisions of section 24(1) of the Electoral Act 2022 and the Electoral Guideline of INEC to the declare the result of the election” despite the pending election in Kwande LGA.

 

ALSO: INEC Declares APC Candidate, Nwifuru Winner Of Ebonyi Guber Poll

 

Prof. Kuta stated that the APC candidate polled a total of 473,933votes to defeat Mr. Uba of the PDP, who garnered a total of 223,913 votes

The candidate of the Labour Party, LP, Herman Hembe scored 41,881 votes to come third.

A breakdown of the result declared by the Electoral body showed that the APC won in 17 Local Government Areas, LGAs of the 23 LGAs of the state, PDP took four LGAs while LP took one LGA.

The declared result also indicates that the total valid votes in the election stood at 756,903, the total votes cast was 768,404 while the total Rejected votes in the election stood at 11,499.

 

Shortly after the announcement of the outcome of the poll supporters of the APC took to the streets of Makurdi to celebrate the victory of the Catholic Priest.

Meanwhile the electoral body has scheduled the State Assembly election in the two State Constituencies of Kwande LGA for Tuesday March 21.

The Commission explained that the shift became necessary after printing errors were discovered on the ballot papers and result sheets to be used in the election in the two Constituencies that make up the LGA.

A statement issued Monday and signed by the National Commissioner and Chairman, Information and Voter Education Committee, Mr. Festus Okoye said a decision on the new date was reached after consultations with stakeholders in the area.

The statement read, “the public may recall that the Governorship and State Assembly elections in Kwande Local Government Area of Benue State scheduled for Saturday 18th March 2023 had to be suspended.

“This decision followed an inadvertent mix up of some of the sensitive materials for the two State Assembly constituencies in the area, that is Kwande East and Kwande West. For this reason, voters and stakeholders agreed that the elections should be rescheduled. Consequently, the Commission issued a statement that a new date will be announced for the elections.

“After further consultation with stakeholders, our Resident Electoral Commissioner in Benue State, Professor Sam Egwu, has advised that the State office is ready to proceed with the rescheduled elections.

Accordingly, the Commission approved that the elections shall hold tomorrow Tuesday March 21, 2023.

“The Commission appeals to voters in Kwande Local Government Area to troop out en masse and vote for the candidate of their choice. Similarly, we call on parties and candidates to conduct themselves peacefully.

Below is a breakdown of the results from the 22 LGAs as declared by the Collation Officers at the State Collation Centre in Makurdi.

Apa LGA:
Accre voters: 17,435
APC: 7,925
LP: 465
PDP: 7,806

VALID VOTES: 16,520
Rejected votes: 485
Total voted cast: 17,005

Tarka LGA:
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

3, Ukum LGA:

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

4, Obi LGA:

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

5, Agatu LGA:

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

6, Gwer East LGA:

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

Ado LGA:
No 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

Logo:
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

9, Gwer West:

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

10, Katsina-Ala LGA:

Reg Voters: 168,318
Accre Voters: 42,189

Votes by parties:

APC: 34,347
LP: 176
PDP: 6,716

Valid votes: 41,669
Rejected: 520
Votes cast: 42, 189

11, Buruku LGA:

Reg Voters: 129,696
Accre voters: 46,418

Votes by parties:
APC: 34,713
LP: 1,155
PDP: 9,513

Valid votes cast: 45,937
Rejected votes: 470
Votes cast: 46,407

12, Gboko LGA:

Reg Voters: 249,636
Accre voters: 77,230

Votes by parties:
APC: 53,985
LP: 1,493
PDP: 18,773

Valid votes cast: 75,316
Rejected votes: 1,261
Votes cast: 76,577

13, Ohimini LGA:

Reg Voters: 46,713
Accre voters: 15,918

Votes by parties:
APC: 7,233
LP: 973
PDP: 6,785

Valid votes cast: 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 cast: 38,239
Rejected votes: 505
Votes cast 38,744

15, Ushongo LGA:

Reg Voters: 111,769
Accre voters: 43,228

Votes by parties:
APC: 31,946
LP: 913
PDP: 8,879

Valid votes cast: 42,655
Rejected votes: 566
Votes cast 43,221

16, Ogbadibo LGA:

Reg Voters: 72,231
Accre voters: 16,242

Votes by parties:
APC: 7,627
LP: 405
PDP: 6,032

Valid votes cast: 15,843
Rejected votes: 399
Votes cast: 16,242

17, Oju LGA:
Reg Voters: 110,166
Accre voters: 28,576

Votes by parties:
APC: 17,245
LP: 1,611
PDP: 8,811

Valid votes cast: 28,142
Rejected votes: 433
Votes cast: 28,575

18, Makurdi LGA:

Reg Voters: 305,600
Accre voters: 76,027

Votes by parties:
APC: 56, 432
LP: 3,792
PDP: 12,329

Valid votes cast: 74,565
Rejected votes: 1,343
Votes cast: 75,908

19, Vandeikya LGA:

Reg Voters: 163,980
Accre voters: 62,105

Votes by parties:
APC: 46,786
LP: 129
PDP: 12,988

Valid votes cast: 61,492
Rejected votes: 605
Votes cast 62,097

20, Otukpo LGA:

Reg Voters: 149,987
Accre voters: 37,567

Votes by parties:
APC: 19,430
LP: 2,187
PDP: 12,834

Valid votes cast: 36,898
Rejected votes: 658
Votes cast 37,556

21, Konshisha LGA:

Reg Voters: 131461
Accre voters: 43779

Votes by parties:
APC: 13,997
LP: 21,606
PDP: 5,905

Valid votes cast: 43106
Rejected votes: 673
Votes cast: 43,779

22, Okpokwu LGA:

Reg Voters: 76,366
Accre voters: 19,544

Votes by parties:
APC: 9,326
LP: 1,039
PDP: 8,634

Valid votes cast: 19303
Rejected votes: 221
Votes cast: 19524