By Philip NyamAbuja

A gubernatorial aspirant on the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Benue state, Dr. Jeffrey Kuraun has called for the cancellation of the just concluded governorship primaries due to alleged irregularities and undemocratic practices.

Kuraun, who made the call in Abuja on Thursday at a media briefing, also accused Governor Hyacinth Alia of diversion of election materials demanding that he be declared as candidate of the party in the alternative.

The aspirant alleged that “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.

“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 21st 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”.

Speaking further, the aspirant alleged that “The APC Governorship Primary Election conducted in Benue State on Thursday, 21st May 2026 was neither credible, transparent, nor reflective of democratic standards expected within a ruling political party.

“I was the only governorship aspirant who demonstrably prepared for the exercise in accordance with the requirements and guidelines of our great party, 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 the entire 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 governments in Benue State.

“Our agents and supporters were visibly present, mobilized, 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 seen being 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.

“Several disturbing irregularities have since emerged from the purported results announced, including:

“Allocation of votes to aspirants whose supporters and agents were not present in several wards; instances where I overwhelmingly won but was falsely recorded as scoring zero votes.

“Inclusion of names of persons who reportedly did not participate in the screening process or were not duly cleared to contest; announcement of fabricated figures from locations where election materials never arrived and voting never occurred.

“These actions represent a direct assault on democratic credibility and internal party democracy. Following the declaration of the disputed results, I immediately activated the internal dispute resolution mechanism of the APC in line with the timetable and guidelines of the party.

“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 25th 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”.

• 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.