Alia Consolidates Political Hold as APC Hands Him Governorship Ticket

Hyacinth Alia has emerged as the governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress for the 2027 governorship election in Benue State after defeating two other aspirants in the party’s primary election.

Governor Alia contested alongside Jeffrey Kuranun and Terwase Orbunde in the exercise conducted across the state under the supervision of the party’s national leadership.

Announcing the result in Makurdi on Friday, Chairman of the APC Governorship Primary Election Committee, Professor Muhammad Isah, declared that Alia polled 367,786 votes to secure a decisive victory.

According to Isah, Jeffrey Kuranun scored 2,923 votes, while Terwase Orbunde secured 3,247 votes.

The committee chairman stated that Alia satisfied all constitutional and electoral requirements guiding the conduct of the primary election and was therefore declared winner of the contest.

He described the exercise as peaceful, transparent and hitch-free, commending party members across Benue State for their orderly conduct and impressive turnout during the exercise.

Earlier, Benue APC Chairman, Benjamin Omale, also praised party faithful for maintaining peace throughout the primaries.

Omale further commended the election committee for conducting what he described as a transparent and fair process.

In his acceptance speech, Governor Alia thanked delegates, party leaders and supporters for the confidence reposed in him and pledged to continue pursuing policies aimed at improving the lives of residents across the state.

The governor stressed the need for unity within the APC, noting that the party must remain united ahead of the 2027 general elections.

He appealed to aggrieved aspirants and supporters to set aside grievances and work collectively for the progress of the party and the state.

“It is my hope that your support will continue. As I have already pledged, we will continue to bring progress, development and human capacity advancement to our people,” Alia said.

“For those who may feel aggrieved following the recently concluded House of Representatives, senatorial, state assembly and governorship primaries, I sincerely appeal to you to search your hearts.

“Let us find common ground to support one another and continue serving the people of Benue State,” he added.

Governor Alia also highlighted some of the achievements of his administration, including road construction projects, improvements in healthcare delivery, infrastructure expansion, education reforms and employment initiatives.

He disclosed that his administration plans to recruit more teachers during the final phase of his first term to strengthen the state’s education sector.

Following the declaration of results, party leaders from Benue’s three senatorial districts moved to affirm Alia’s candidacy and pledged their support for his re-election bid.