By Sam Tyav, Makurdi
Road to a possible re-election has opened for Benue State Governor, Hyacinth Alia, as he was declared winner of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) gubernatorial primary election conducted in the State.
Disclosing the results of the primary, Chairman of the APC governorship primary election, Professor Mohammad Isah, at the party secretariat in Makurdi, the state capital, said Gov. Alia polled 367,786 votes to defeat other contestants.
Professor Isah added that Gov. Alia’s closest opponent, Terwase Orbunde, polled 3,247 votes while Jeffery Kuraun got 2,923 votes.
While accepting to fly the flag of the party, Gov. Alia appreciated party members for the overwhelming support and for also embracing direct primaries where the people’s will prevailed in all the primary elections conducted.
The governor assured that he would sustain his infrastructural development drive to make the State the envy of others.
Gov. Alia who spoke with newsmen shortly after participating in the primary election in his village Ihugh, called on the APC family in the State to turn up in their numbers to vote for President Bola Tinubu, as presidential flag bearer of the party in the forthcoming 2027 presidential polls.
The President, according Gov. Alia, needs to be re-elected to consolidate his bold developmental strides such as expanded infrastructure projects, renewed focus on economic reforms and investment attraction, efforts to boost job creation and improve security, and commitment to strengthen governance.
Alia said that he would engage aggrieved members of the party and aspirants who lost to others for the various positions at stake, to remain in the party, work together to pursue the bigger picture by delivering all elections from bottom to top.
He expressed joy and satisfaction with the turnout for his own election, saying he has seen it as a clear mandate to act on the people’s priorities.
Speaking further, the governor noted: “I can assure you that by the time I am through with my eight years in office, Benue will become a State everyone would want to visit. What you have seen is not even a quarter of what I have in store for the state. I started from ground zero and had to lay some very solid foundations.”
*PHOTO CAPTION: Gov. Alia.
