Politics

Benue: Declare me winner or conduct fresh primary – Guber aspirant tells APC

Published

1 hour ago

May 28, 2026

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A governorship aspirant of the All Progressives Congress, APC, in Benue State, Dr. Jeffrey Kuraun, has urged the party’s national leadership to either nullify the recently conducted governorship primary in the state or recognise him as the rightful winner.

Governor Hyacinth Alia was declared winner of the APC governorship primary after polling 367,786 votes. Other contestants in the exercise include Terwase Orbunde, who secured 3,247 votes, and Kuraun, who got 2,923 votes.

Speaking with journalists in Abuja on Thursday, Kuraun rejected the outcome of the exercise, insisting that the primary election held in Benue last week lacked credibility, transparency and fairness expected of a ruling political party.

He alleged that the process was manipulated and failed to represent the genuine wishes of APC members spread across the 276 council wards and 23 local government areas of the state.

Kuraun further maintained that among all the aspirants, he was the only one who fully complied with the APC guidelines ahead of the primary election.

“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,” he stated.

According to him, election materials allegedly failed to reach many designated ward centres despite reports that they left Makurdi around 1:00 p.m. for distribution across the state.

“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 also disclosed that he had activated the party’s internal dispute resolution mechanism in line with APC guidelines but claimed that members of the appeal committee became unreachable when he attempted to file his complaint.

“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 aspirant insisted that many party supporters turned out across the state expecting a transparent primary process and warned against suppressing their participation through manipulation.

He therefore called on the APC National Working Committee to either conduct a fresh governorship primary under independent supervision or declare him winner of the contest.

“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.

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Politics

APC knocks Otti for naming new bus terminal after ex-INEC Returning Officer

Published

48 minutes ago

May 28, 2026

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The Abia State chapter of the All Progressives Congress, APC, has criticized the decision of Governor Alex Otti to name the Umuahia Central Bus Terminal after Professor Nnenna Oti, the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, Returning Officer for Abia State during the 2023 elections.

The Abia APC while reacting to the development, said it was a dangerous precedence that could send the wrong message to future electoral officers posted to Abia State for the 2027 elections.

A statement signed by Uche Aguoru, the Publicity Secretary of Abia APC on Thursday said Governor Otti could have named the Bus terminal after notable Abia personalities rather than Professor Nnenna Oti.

“We therefore ask, when did favourable electoral outcomes begin to attract rewards and state-sponsored recognition?

“The APC therefore rejects and condemns in totality the naming of the Umuahia Central Bus Terminal or any public monument whatsoever after Professor Nnenna Oti.

“Such honour is undeserved, provocative, divisive and embarrassing to the people of Abia State,” the APC said.

The party also claimed that it was wrong to immortalize an electoral officer instead of those it described as proven builders of the state

APC concluded the statement by calling on Governor Alex Otti to consider reversing the naming of the project after Professor Oti.

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Politics

Not yet time to celebrate – Atiku speaks on emergence as ADC presidential candidate

Published

1 hour ago

May 28, 2026

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African Democratic Congress, ADC, presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar has declared that it is not yet time to celebrate.

Reacting to his emergence as the ADC flagbearer in the 2027 presidential election, Atiku urged all the party’s contestants to work together in pulling Nigeria out of the grip of corruption, incompetence and what he described as the polarizing government of the All Progressives Congress, APC.

Posting on X, the former Vice President wrote: “I must state at this juncture that this is not the time to celebrate. No one was defeated because we are one party and we all need to recognise the fierce urgency of the moment.

“Therefore, we have to unite, as we pledged before this process, to work to pull our country and our people out of the destructive grip of a corrupt, incompetent and polarising APC government.”

Atiku commended the ADC’s primary election committee for the peaceful outcome of the primaries across the country.

He said: “I thank the primary elections Committee for organising peaceful, free, fair and transparent primaries.

“I thank the various leadership organs of our party, the various stakeholders, and volunteers for their hard work and dedication and all our party members and supporters for their efforts, patience and conduct during the process.”

The former Vice president stressed that hard work is about to begin with the conclusion of the primaries.

“With the primaries behind us, the real hard work is about to begin. We have to prepare to campaign hard to win the next general elections in order to begin the difficult process of rescuing our country and its long-suffering people from this government,” he added.

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Politics

2027: NDC moves to take advantage of APC’s post-primary crisis

Published

2 hours ago

May 28, 2026

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The National Democratic Congress, NDC, is positioned to take political advantage of the crisis trailing the primaries of the All Progressives Congress, APC, especially in Bayelsa State, home of its national leader, Senator Seriake Dickson.

This was disclosed in a statement on Thursday by National Coordinator of the Sagbama/Ekeremor Grassroots Agenda, Comrade Felix Osuobene.

Osuobene revealed that Dickson was spotted celebrating the fallout of the Bayelsa APC primaries in Sagbama/Ekeremor Federal Constituency where Bernard Kenibai emerged as the party’s candidate.

The statement noted that crisis trailing the APC primaries across the country, involving disputes over the screening exercise, disqualification of aspirants and internal tensions, has generated national attention.

Osuobene said opposition strategists are increasingly convinced that the ruling party’s internal crisis has handed them a valuable political opening ahead of the 2027 general elections.

According to him, the calculation among opposition elements in Sagbama/Ekeremor Federal Constituency of Bayelsa State is that the APC has weakened itself in a constituency it cannot afford to lose.

“Our sources confirmed that the national leader of NDC, Senator Seriake Dickson was seen celebrating the emergence of Hon. Bernard Kenibai as the APC candidate; viewed in political circles as an easier adversary,” Osuobene stated.

The controversy centres on the exclusion of Prof. Princewill Woyinbrakemi Igbagara, an academic and technocrat who is said to have built considerable grassroots and elite support and was regarded as the frontrunner.

Osuobene described the exclusion as a costly miscalculation by the APC, particularly given President Bola Tinubu’s standing directive that the party present its strongest candidates at every level in 2027.

The opposition, according to Osuobene, believe the NDC now has three pathways to exploit the crisis.

He stated, “The first is voter apathy. If aggrieved APC stakeholders feel sufficiently marginalized, many may simply refuse to mobilize for the party come election day — a potentially devastating outcome in a contest where presidential victories are built on the loyalty of local structures and grassroots foot soldiers.

“The second pathway is silent defection. Nigeria’s political history is littered with cases of discontented party loyalists who remain publicly committed to their party while quietly delivering votes to the opposition. The NDC is well positioned to attract frustrated political actors from within the APC who are searching for an alternative platform.

“The third and perhaps most immediate advantage is propaganda. Opposition parties thrive politically when the ruling party appears divided.

“For a party like the NDC — which is actively marketing itself as a cleaner, fairer political alternative — the spectacle of APC tearing itself apart in Sagbama/Ekeremor is ready-made campaign material.

“The stakes are particularly high in the South-South, where the APC has historically struggled to build a durable, unified structure. In Bayelsa State especially, the optics of excluding a well-regarded constituency son from a primary race risk reinforcing longstanding perceptions that the party is neither inclusive nor internally democratic — perceptions the NDC is eager to deepen.

“Even if the APC leadership believes it acted within party guidelines, the emotional reaction of supporters on the ground may produce unintended political consequences.

“In regions where the APC seeks to expand its influence, particularly the South-South, controversies that alienate local stakeholders could become valuable political capital for opposition movements like the NDC.”

Osuobene observed that ahead of the general elections, the NDC appears determined to ensure that every crack in the APC’s armour, no matter how little, is widened into a national conversation about the ruling party’s fitness to govern.

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