March 20, (THEWILL) – The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), has declared Revd Fr Hycinth Alia of the All Progressives Congress (APC), as the winner of the Governorship race in Benue state, having polled the highest valid votes cast during the March 18 election in the state.
Declaring the results at INEC headquarters in Makurdi on Monday, the Chief Returning Officer, Prof Farouk Kuta, said Fr Alia polled a total of 473,933 votes to defeat his closest rival, Mr Titus Uba of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), who scored 223,913 votes to place second.
Professor Kuta, who is the Vice Chancellor of Federal University of Technology, Minna, commended the orderly manner and maturity displayed by all stakeholders in the state, which led to the successful conduct of the polls.
He announced that the Governorship and House of assembly elections which was put off in Kwande local Government area of the state will hold on Tuesday.
Reacting to the victory, the State chairman of APC, Comrade Austin Agada, commended Benue people for voting out the PDP government which has instituted poor leadership that could not pay salaries, pension and other dividends of democracy to the people.
He said Revd Fr Hycinth Alia has all it takes to lift Benue Out Of the shackles of poverty and called on the people to pray for peace and development.
According to him, Nasarawa state, created lately has overtaken Benue state in terms of infrastructural development.
Responding to a question, Comrade Agada explained that even though people are free to join APC, governor Ortom has taken short of persons the party is looking for and won’t be admitted.
