PDP takes Taraba, APC retakes Benue, as INEC declares Katsina, Adamawa inconclusive
All Progressives Congress (APC) has retaken Benue following the declaration by Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Monday, of Reverend Father Hyacinth Alia as winner of the governorship election conducted last Saturday in the state.
Benue fell to the PDP after the state governor, Samuel Ortom defected to the party on winning his mandate on the platform of the APC in 2015.
Alia, a serving reverend father, polled 473,933 votes to defeat Titus Uba, the candidate of the PDPwho polled 223,913 votes, while Herman Hembe of the Labour Party (LP) scored 41,881 votes.
Faruk Kuta, vice chancellor of the Federal University of Technology, Minna, and the Returning Officer of the Benue State governorship election, announced the results, Monday, at the INEC Collation centre in Makurdi, the state capital.
Out of the 23 LGAs in Benue, Alia secured 17, while Uba clinched four and Hembe got one.
“This formal declaration is hinged on the fact that we are relying on section 24(1) of the electoral Act (2022) and INEC guidelines for the election,” Kuta said.
Meanwhile, Taraba, INEC has officially declared PDP’s Lt Col. Agbu Kefas (rtd) as winner of a tightly contested governorship election.
Kefas polled a total of 236,712 votes with the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP) and All Progressives Congress (APC), trailing at second and third places respectively.
He now succeeds outgoing state Governor Darius Ishaku of the same PDP.
In Adamawa, INEC has declared the March 18 governorship election in the state as inconclusive.
The candidate of the APC in the state, Senator Aishatu Dahiru, famously known as Binani, scored 390, 275 while the incumbent, Governor Ahmadu Fintiri, the PDP candidate polled 421,524.
However, INEC declared the election inconclusive due to the margin of votes.
Also, the election in Kebbi was declared inconclusive by INEC.
It would be recalled that earlier, Monday, INEC had suspended collation of the results of governorship polls conducted in Abia and Enugu states.
So far, the results of 20 governorship polls have been announced. The APC takes the lead with 14 states, the PDP with five states and the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP) with one state.
