2023 Benue State gubernatorial election

2023 Benue State gubernatorial election
← 2019 18 March 2023 2027 →
Registered2,777,727
 
Nominee Hyacinth Alia Titus Uba Herman Hembe
Party APC PDP LP
Running mate Samuel Ode John Ngbede Christopher Onyiloyi Idu
Popular vote 473,933 223,913 41,881
Percentage 62.61% 29.58% 5.53%
LGA results

Alia:      40–50%      50–60%      60–70%      70–80%      80–90%
Hembe:      50–60%
Uba:      50–60%

No election held:      
Governor before election

Samuel Ortom
PDP

Elected Governor

Hyacinth Alia
APC

The 2023 Benue State gubernatorial election took place on 18 March 2023, to elect the governor of Benue State, concurrent with elections to the Benue State House of Assembly as well as twenty-seven other gubernatorial elections and elections to all other state houses of assembly.[1][2] The election — which was postponed from its original 11 March date — was held three weeks after the presidential election and National Assembly elections.[3] Incumbent PDP Governor Samuel Ortom was term-limited and could not seek re-election to a third term. Hyacinth Alia — a suspended Catholic priest — gained the office for the APC by a 33% margin over PDP nominee House of Assembly Speaker Titus Uba.[4]

Party primaries were scheduled for between 4 April and 9 June 2022 with the Peoples Democratic Party nominating Uba on 25 May while the All Progressives Congress first held its primary on 26 and 27 May nominating Alia; however, the primary was partially annulled and a rerun was held on 9 June that was also won by Alia.[5][6][7][8] Despite the initial annulment, the rerun itself was partially annulled by a Court of Appeal ruling in January 2023 which ordered the APC to hold a third primary in 11 local government areas.[9] The new exercise, held on 2 February, resulted in a third victory for Alia.[10]

On 20 March, collation completed and INEC Returning Officer Faruk Kuta declared Alia as the victor. Official results show Alia winning nearly 474,000 votes and 63% of the vote as runner-up Uba received around 224,000 votes and 30% of the vote while LP nominee Herman Hembe came third with about 41,000 votes and 6% of the vote.[4] However, within days of the declaration, Uba announced that he would challenge the results at the electoral tribunal.[11]

  1. ^ Oyekanmi, Rotimi (26 February 2022). "It's Official: 2023 Presidential, National Assembly Elections to Hold Feb 25". INEC News. Retrieved 27 February 2022.
  2. ^ Jimoh, Abbas (26 February 2022). "INEC Sets New Dates For 2023 General Elections". Daily Trust. Retrieved 26 February 2022.
  3. ^ Suleiman, Qosim. "It's Official: INEC postpones Saturday's governorship, state assembly elections". Premium Times. Retrieved 15 March 2023.
  4. ^ a b Ejekwonyilo, Ameh. "Catholic priest Hyacinth Alia wins Benue State governorship election". Premium Times. Retrieved 11 August 2023.
  5. ^ Ejembi, Rose. "BREAKING: Uba is Benue PDP guber candidate". The Sun. Makurdi. Retrieved 14 June 2022.
  6. ^ Duru, Peter. "Suspended Benue Catholic priest, Alia, wins APC guber ticket; other aspirants protest". Vanguard. Retrieved 14 June 2022.
  7. ^ "APC orders gov primary rerun in 12 Benue local govts". The Punch. News Agency of Nigeria. Retrieved 14 June 2022.
  8. ^ "Father Alia Wins Benue Apc Governorship Re-run Primary Election". TVC News. Retrieved 14 June 2022.
  9. ^ Ugwu, Francis. "Court of Appeal nullifies APC guber primaries in Benue". Daily Post. Retrieved 24 January 2023.
  10. ^ Emmanuel, Hope Abah. "Alia Wins Benue APC Governorship Re-Run Primary Election". Daily Trust. Retrieved 3 February 2023.
  11. ^ Duru, Peter. "Benue PDP rejects Gov'ship/State Assembly results, head to tribunal". Vanguard. Retrieved 11 August 2023.