Cancel Benue Primaries Or Declare Me Winner, Guber Hopeful Tells APC

A governorship aspirant in Benue State, Dr. Jeffrey Kuraun, has called on the national leadership of the All Progressives Congress (APC) to either cancel the primary election conducted in the state or declare him the winner of the race.

The Returning Officer of the Primary Election Committee, Mohammed Isa, announced Governor Hyacinth Alia as the winner of the race, having scored 367,786 votes to defeat his co-contestants, Terwase Orbunde, who polled 3,247 votes, and Kuraun, who garnered 2,923 votes.

Addressing journalists in Abuja on Thursday, Kuraun alleged that the APC governorship primary election conducted in Benue State last week was neither credible, transparent, nor reflective of the democratic standards expected within a ruling political party.

According to him, what transpired was a grave subversion of internal democracy and a deliberate manipulation of a process that ought to have reflected the genuine will of party members across the 276 council wards and 23 local government areas of Benue State.

Kuraun claimed he was the only governorship aspirant who demonstrably prepared for the exercise in accordance with the requirements and guidelines of the APC.

“Prior to the primary election, I duly submitted the comprehensive list of my ward and local government agents to the APC Governorship Primary Election Committee at the APC State Secretariat in Makurdi. The submission was formally acknowledged by the committee.

“To the best of available evidence, no other aspirant submitted such comprehensive agents’ lists covering all 276 council wards and 23 local government areas.

“Most importantly, I was the only aspirant with agents physically present and verifiably deployed across the field during the exercise. This fact is supported by extensive pictorial and video evidence taken across the wards and local government areas in Benue State.

“Our agents and supporters were visibly present, mobilised, and prepared for the democratic exercise. They wore identification tags, coordinated party faithful, and waited for the distribution of election materials in anticipation of a credible process.

“Unfortunately, what followed was deeply disturbing.

“My agents and supporters across the 23 local government areas patiently waited at their respective ward centres for the arrival of election materials, which reportedly departed Makurdi at about 1:00 p.m. for onward distribution to the designated wards. However, in many instances, these materials never arrived at the approved ward centres for the conduct of the primary election.

“Instead, reports and evidence later showed that the materials were taken away or found in the possession of certain government appointees and individuals outside the designated electoral process.

“This unfortunate development ultimately created room for the diversion of election materials to unknown locations and opened the door for the falsification and fabrication of results without actual voting taking place in many areas.

“I challenge anyone claiming victory in that exercise to publicly provide authentic video or pictorial evidence showing actual accreditation, voting, counting, and collation processes across the 276 council wards of Benue State,” he said.

Kuraun said he had activated the APC’s internal dispute resolution mechanism in line with the party’s timetable and guidelines.

“However, when it became time to formally file my appeal before the Governorship Primary Election Appeal Committee, the committee members became unavailable and could not be found anywhere despite repeated efforts by myself, my representatives, and my legal team to reach them.

“It is my firm belief that this deliberate unavailability was calculated to frustrate my constitutional and democratic right to seek redress within the party framework.

“Faced with this obstruction, I had no option but to forward my appeal through DHL courier service to the National Chairman of the APC, with copies duly sent to the National Legal Adviser.

“The complaint was officially acknowledged at the office of the National Chairman on 25 May 2026. Regrettably, up till this moment, I have neither received any formal response nor been invited for any meeting, hearing, or discussion concerning the complaint filed.

“On 27 May 2026, I further sent a formal reminder and pre-action notice through my solicitors, again urging the party leadership to urgently address the complaint before the expiration of the statutory timelines applicable to pre-election matters,” he added.

The APC governorship hopeful maintained that supporters overwhelmingly turned out across the state in anticipation of a free and fair primary election; hence, their voices and participation must not be ignored or suppressed through administrative manipulation.

“In view of the overwhelming irregularities, absence of transparency, denial of due process, and the failure of the exercise to meet acceptable democratic standards, I respectfully call on the National Working Committee of the APC to:

“Cancel the purported governorship primary election conducted in Benue State on 21 May 2026 and conduct a fresh, transparent, and independently supervised primary election.

“Declare me, Dr. Jeffrey Kuraun, the valid winner of the primary election based on the undisputed fact that I was the only aspirant who substantially complied with the party’s stipulated preparatory requirements for the conduct of the exercise, including the duly acknowledged submission and deployment of agents across the 276 council wards and 23 local government areas of Benue State, as well as the overwhelming turnout and visible participation of my supporters across the state despite the failure of election materials to reach the designated ward centres.

“Benue deserves credible leadership recruitment processes, not manufactured outcomes. Internal democracy remains the foundation upon which public democratic legitimacy rests. Once internal democracy collapses, governance itself becomes endangered,” he said.

المصدر: Leadership (Nigeria)