Catholic Priest Wins APC Guber Primary Rerun In Benue

Hyacinth Alia has defeated his opponents to win the All Progressives Congress (APC) governorship primary rerun in Benue state.

Naija News recalls that Alia was a presiding priest of the Catholic Diocese of Gboko before he was suspended from public ministry in May last year.

The church suspended Father Alia for his involvement in politics and purchasing forms to contest for the position of the Governor of Benue State on the platform of the APC.

Naija News reports that Alia went on with his political ambition at the time and eventually won the primary election held in May 2022.

Unfortunately, in January, the court of appeal in Benue ordered a rerun in 11 out of the 28 LGAs in the state. A governorship aspirant in the state, Terhemba Sjija, had approached the appellate court to appeal the decision of the trial court that upheld the election of the priest.

But on Thursday in Makurdi, Benue capital, the chairman of the primary election committee, Basheer Lado, said Alia won the poll after securing 410,682 votes.

Lado insisted that Matthias Byuan came second after polling 14,592 votes, while Barnabas Gemade, a former senator, scored 5,125 votes to come third.

Terhemba Shija scored 2,217 votes, and Michael Aondoakaa, a former attorney-general of the federation (AGF) scored 3,815 to come fourth and fifth, respectively.

“I hereby declare Rev Fr Hyacinth Alia, who scored a total number of 410,682 votes, and having scored the highest number of votes, as the winner of the election,” Lado said.