Mr Alia of the APC scored 473,933 votes to beat Mr Uba of the PDP who polled 223,913 votes.

The All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate, Hyacinth Alia, has won the Benue State governorship election held on Saturday, 18 March.

Mr Alia, a Roman Catholic priest, defeated his closest challenger, Titus Uba of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). Mr Uba is the current Speaker of the Benue State House of Assembly.

Announcing the results of the governorship poll in Makurdi, the Benue State capital, on Monday, Faruk Kuta, the state collation and returning officer, said Mr Alia scored 473,933 votes to beat Mr Uba who polled 223,913 votes.

Giving the breakdown of the votes, Mr Kuta who is the vice-chancellor of the Federal University of Technology, (FUT) Minna, said the valid votes stood at 756,903, while the rejected votes were: 11,499. The total votes cast were: 768,402.

Citing section 24(1) of the Electoral Act (2022) and INEC Guidelines for the election, the State Returning Officer declared Mr Alia as the winner of the 2023 Benue State governorship election.

The margin of win is 250,020 votes based on the total number of votes collated from 22 out of the 23 local government areas of Benue State.

The governorship and state parliamentary election in Kwande Local Government Area was shifted to Tuesday, 21 March, due to printing errors in ballot papers that were discovered during the Saturday election.

Kwande LGA has a total number of Permanent Voters Cards (PVCs) of 156,826, representing 91 per cent of 172,293 registered voters.

Therefore, with the margin of lead put at 250,020 votes above the number of PVCs collected in the affected areas which stands at 156,826, Mr Alia was declared the winner by the electoral umpire.

On Sunday, INEC's Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) in Benue State, Sam Egwu, said the winner of the governorship poll might be declared if the margin of win is greater than the number of registered voters who collected their PVCs in Kwande LGA.

Both Messrs Alia and Uba hail from Vandeikya Local Government Area of Benue State.

The Labour Party (LP) governorship candidate in Benue, Herman Hembe, came third in the race with 41,881 votes.

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) began the collation of Saturday's governorship election at the Benue Governorship Election State Collation Centre in Makurdi, the state capital, on Sunday.

Summary of 2023 Benue Governorship Election Results From 22 LGAs.

1. Apa, 11RAs

Reg voters:66,720.

Accre voters: 17,435

APC: 7,925

LP: 465

PDP: 7,806

VALID VOTES: 6,520

Rejected votes: 485

Total voted cast: 17,005

2. Gwer West, 15 RAs

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

3. Logo, 10RAs

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

4. Ado LGA, 10RAs

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

5. Gwer East LGA, 14 RAs

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

6. Agatu LGA, 10RAs

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

7. Obi LGA, 12 RAs

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

8. Ukum, 13 RAs

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

9. Tarka LGA, 10RAs

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

10. Buruku LGA, 13 RAs

Reg Voters: 129,696

ACCRE Voters: 46,418

Votes by parties

APC: 34,713

LP: 1,155

PDP: 9,513

Valid Votes: 45,937

Rejected Votes: 470

Votes cast: 46,407

11. Katsina-Ala LGA, 12 RAs

Reg Voters: 168,318

Accre Voters: 42,189

Votes by parties

APC: 34,347

LP: 178

PDP: 6,716

Valid Votes: 41,669

Rejected Votes: 520

Votes cast: 42,189

12. Gboko LGA, 17 RAs

Reg voters: 249,636

Accre voters: 77,230

Votes by parties

APC: 53,985

LP: 1,493

PDP: 18,773

Valid votes: 75,316

Rejected votes: 1261

Votes cast: 76,577

13. Ohimini LGA, 10RAs

Reg Voters: 46,713

Accre voters: 15,918

Votes by parties

APC: 7,233

LP: 973

PDP: 6,785

Valid votes: 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: 38,239

Rejected Votes: 505

Votes cast: 38,744

15. Ushongo LGA, 11 RAs

Reg Voters: 11769

Accre voters 43228

APC: 31946

LP: 913

PDP: 8879

Valid votes: 38,239

Rejected Votes: 505

Votes cast: 38,744

Valid votes: 42656

Rejected Votes: 566

Votes cast: 43221

16. Ogbadibo LGA, 13 RAs

Reg Voters: 72,231

Accre voters: 16,242

Votes by parties

APC: 7,627

LP: 405

PDP: 6,032

Valid votes: 15,843

Rejected Votes: 399

Votes cast: 16,242

17. Oju LGA, 11 RAs

Reg Voters: 110,166

Accre voters: 28,576

Votes by parties

APC: 17,245

LP: 1,611

PDP: 8,811

Valid votes: 28,142

Rejected Votes: 433

Votes cast: 28,575

18. Makurdi LGA, 11RAs

Reg voters: 305,600

Accre voters: 76,026

Votes by parties

APC: 56,432

LP: 3,792

PDP: 12,329

Rejected votes: 1,343.

19. Vandeikya

In Vandeikya, the governorship result is as follows:

Alia: 46,786

Uba: 12,988

Hembe: 129

20. Otukpo LGA, 13 RAs

Reg voters: 149,987

Accre voters: 37,567

Rejected Votes: 658

Votes by parties

APC: 19,430

LP: 2,187

PDP: 12,834

21. Konshisha LGA, 11RAs

Reg voters: 131,461

Accre voters: 43,779

Rejected Votes: 673

Votes by parties

APC: 13,997

LP: 21,606

PDP: 5, 905

22. Okpokwu LGA, 12RAs

Reg voters: 76,366

Accre voters: 19,544

Rejected votes: 221

Votes by parties

APC: 9,326

LP: 1,039

PDP: 8,634

End