• By AbdulRahman Obaje

The Peoples Redemption Party, PRP Presidential Primary is marred by irregularities as insiders and stakeholders said the Party is abandoning its own founding principle, engineering election process to suit particular candidate.

According to a well-informed party insider the outcome of the Presidential primary election does not reflect the actual account of what happened, saying that the outcome was engineered and the inflation was not unintentional disorder but a deliberate plan orchestrated to deliver the nomination to a preferred candidate in service of a prearranged ticket.

Those same insiders point to reported plans for Mr. Duke to run alongside Senator Datti Baba-Ahmed, younger brother of the National Chairman, Dr. Hakeem Baba-Ahmed.

“We do not state these motives as proven fact. We state them as serious allegations raised by people positioned to know, allegations that the party’s leadership now has an obligation to answer rather than ignore.” The statement added,

The People Redemption Party conducted its presidential primary on May 25^th, 2026 under guidelines it issued just one day before the election. The explicit guidelines said only members whose names appeared on the official membership register submitted to the Independent National Electoral Commission as of 4 May 2026 were eligible to vote. That register was the governing document. It was the single source of truth agreed by all parties before a single ballot was cast.

Result declared as against that register, defies the fundamental tenet of mathematics.

For example, in Gombe State, a register of 348 members produced 1,431 votes, a 311 percent difference, with more than 1,000 ballots. In Bauchi State, a register of 593 members produced 760 votes, 167 more ballots than there were people permitted to cast vote. In Kwara State, 55 registered members somehow produced 82 votes, an excess of nearly 50 percent. These are only a few examples from the results released.

According to eye-witness, collation at the party’s National Headquarters was itself halted amid widespread irregularities, raising even deeper concerns about the integrity of the overall process.

Across these states, 996 registered members produced 2,273 votes. That is 1,277 ballots that correspond to no eligible voter on the party’s own INEC-approved list. More than half of the total declared vote did not lawfully exist.

According to the statement released by one of the Aspirant, Dr. Ufere, “The phantom votes were not random. They broke overwhelmingly, in state after state, in favour of a single aspirant, Mr. Donald Duke, a man who joined the People Redemption Party only in the days immediately before the primary, having defected from another platform on the eve of the exercise. The pattern is consistent and lopsided enough to demand an explanation the party has so far refused to give.

“The questions deepen when one considers the candidate himself. Mr. Duke did not campaign for a single day of this contest. By available accounts, he was outside the country while the election was being conducted. He joined the People Redemption Party in secrecy after the relevant deadlines had already been breached. He openly offered to refund rival aspirants the costs they had incurred if they would step aside and allow him to emerge as a consensus candidate.

Also, according to a statement by the Yakubu Muhammed Kingsley YMK Nigeria Presidential Campaign Team, signed by the Director, Media and Communication, Prince Abdulrahman Obaje; “if internal democracy can be sacrificed so easily within PRP, then what moral right does the party have to promise Nigerian’s change, justice, fairness, and good governance?

The statement further revealed that the reason why they joined PRP is because of the believed that the party has over-grown money politics, political manipulation, imposition, electoral irregularities, and elite control of democratic processes.

“We believed that PRP was founded on the ideology of Justice, Equality, Accountability, Transparency, People-driven politics, And protection of the ordinary masses.

But today, many of our loyal members are asking painful questions: that

• HAS THE PARTY ABANDONED ITS ORIGINAL IDEOLOGY?
• HAS THE VOICE OF THE ORDINARY MEMBERS BEEN REPLACED BY THE POWER OF MONEY AND ARRANGEMENT?
• HAS PRINCIPLE BEEN SACRIFICED FOR POLITICAL CONVENIENCE?

If genuine concerns raised across the states regarding irregularities, transparency, and credibility are ignored, then confidence in the internal democratic process of the party may continue to weaken.

The Chairman, Media and Communication of the Presidential Campaign Team, Alhaji Suleman Yunusa further said, “A political party cannot successfully fight national injustice while ignoring concerns about fairness within its own structure.

“This moment requires courage, transparency, accountability, and sincere leadership.

The statement charges the leadership of the party to immediately retrack its steps to protect its dignity and integrity.

The statement further said, “The current leadership of PRP still has an opportunity to prove that:

• The party belongs to the people,
• Rules still matter,
• Internal democracy still matters,
• and justice still matters.

“History will remember whether the party defended its founding principles — or abandoned them when it mattered most, because Justice strengthens institutions, Transparency builds trust and Internal democracy protects party credibility.”, the statement concluded.

Makurdi, Benue State – 26 May 2026

Prof. Sebastine Hon SAN has emerged the governorship candidate of the Social Democratic Party (SDP) in Benue State for the 2027 general elections after delegates affirmed him by consensus in Makurdi.

Prof. Hon’s emergence followed a motion moved at the SDP primary election and ratified by a voice vote on Tuesday.

Chairperson of the SDP Primary Election Committee, Mrs. Rosemary Effiong said the process was straightforward given the circumstances.

“In Benue State we have a sole aspirant. We’lll not waste time,” she said.

Hon. Comrade Lawrence Vihimga from Ukum Local Government Area moved that Prof. Hon, having been screened and cleared by the party electoral committee be returned as the party’s candidate for governor.

The motion was seconded by Emmanuel Ibua from Tarka Local Government Area.

The motion was put to a voice vote and greeted with a thunderous “Aiy.”

The chairman of the SDP Electoral Committee subsequently declared Prof. Hon the party’s governorship candidate for 2027.

The announcement sparked jubilation, with drumming, dancing and cheers from party supporters, women and youth groups present.

In his acceptance speech, Prof. Hon thanked the SDP leadership for the mandate saying his political journey in other parties had been blocked until he joined the SDP, which he described as the “progress party.”

“In the APC, I met a deadlock. I tried in the PDP, I met a deadlock. The progressives have offered me space,” he said.

He recalled that one of the Benue State’s best governors, Rev. Fr. Moses Adasu and former Senate President Dr. Iyorchia Ayu were both elected on the SDP platform.

“History is respecting itself. We are going into the election as winners because it has been ordained by God.

“Nothing is above the Almighty God. We are marching to victory,” he declared.

Dignitaries at the event included former commissioners in the Gov. Samuel Ortom administration, Rodney Williams Agbatar and Benjamin Agber; former Senior Special Adviser, Chief Silas Anjie; former Adviser to Gov. Moses Adasu and ex-Chairman of the Benue State Pilgrims Commission, Mrs. Margaret Ogar; Director General of the Sebastine Tar Hon Campaign Organisation, Dr. Ngutor Anyam; and retired Exam Officer in Benue State, Chief Isaac Hon.

Officials of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) were also present to observe the process.

By Felix Umande, Makurdi

Former Benue State Commissioner for Finance, Dr. David Olofu, has emerged as the African Democratic Congress, ADC, senatorial candidate for Benue South ahead of the 2027 general election.

Olofu was adopted as the party’s consensus candidate during primaries held across the nine local government areas of the district and was formally affirmed in Otukpo on Sunday.

Declaring the result, ADC Returning Officer Barr. Ogah Ekwu said Olofu met all constitutional requirements and was returned unopposed as the party’s flag bearer for Benue South.

Describing the outcome as a collective mandate, Olofu said his representation would break from the “one-man show” model and prioritize broad consultation. He announced plans to establish a “Benue South People’s Assembly” and a “Benue South People’s Council” to strengthen unity and collective decision-making across the district.

Security topped his list of priorities, with Olofu lamenting that persistent insecurity had undermined the zone’s agricultural strength and economic potential.

“As outlined in my blueprint, my first charge shall be the protection of our people,” he said. “This will begin with restoring security to our communities and unlocking the full potential of our agricultural economy.”

He outlined a vision for “a secure Benue South where lives and livelihoods are protected; a productive economy where agriculture and enterprise thrive; a strong educational system; infrastructure that connects our communities; and a government that is accountable, responsive, and people-centred.”

Olofu assured party members that no bloc would be sidelined, stating that unity, inclusion, and purposeful representation would define his campaign as he prepares to challenge incumbent Senator Abba Moro and others in the 2027 contest.