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A governorship aspirant of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Benue State, Dr. Jeffrey Kuraun, has called on the National Working Committee (NWC) of the party to declare him the winner of the disputed governorship primary election scheduled for May 21, 2026.
Kuraun made the appeal in a statement issued on Friday, insisting that he was the only aspirant who fully complied with all requirements and directives issued by the party ahead of the governorship primary election.
According to him, his level of preparedness, compliance with party procedures and statewide mobilisation clearly distinguished him from other aspirants contesting for the APC governorship ticket in the state.
The APC governorship aspirant maintained that he was the only cleared contestant who submitted a comprehensive list of ward and local government agents to the APC Governorship Election Committee at the party secretariat in Makurdi ahead of the exercise.
“I was the only aspirant who complied fully with the preparatory requirements laid down by the party before the scheduled governorship primary election. My agents were duly appointed, documented and submitted to the APC Governorship Election Committee as required,” he stated.
Kuraun further alleged that his agents were fully mobilised and present across the 23 local government areas of the state for the conduct of the primary election, but election materials were never deployed to the field despite prior verification at the APC State Secretariat.
“Our agents were on ground and fully prepared for the exercise across the state. We verified election materials at the APC State Secretariat in Makurdi, and everything appeared set for the conduct of the election before the process suddenly stalled,” he claimed.
He disclosed that his representative, Dr. Samuel Tondo, participated in the verification of election materials in the presence of a representative of the incumbent governor before the exercise allegedly failed to proceed as expected.
“Dr. Samuel Tondo, who represented me during the process, personally verified the election materials alongside representatives of other stakeholders, including a representative of the incumbent governor. Unfortunately, the materials were never deployed to the polling centres,” Kuraun said.
The APC aspirant insisted that he was prepared to provide pictorial and video evidence to substantiate his claims, stressing that the facts surrounding the exercise should compel the party leadership to recognise him as the valid winner of the primary election.
“We have pictorial and video evidence to support our position and demonstrate our level of compliance and preparedness for the election. The facts are clear and verifiable,” he added.
Kuraun therefore urged the APC National Working Committee to either declare him the winner of the governorship primary or conduct a fresh election supervised directly by an independent committee constituted by the national leadership of the party.
“In the interest of fairness, justice and the integrity of the party, the National Working Committee should either declare me the valid winner of the governorship primary election or order a fresh exercise supervised by an independent committee from the national headquarters,” he said.
The development comes amid growing controversy surrounding APC primary elections in some states ahead of the 2027 general elections.
The party’s National Publicity Secretary, Felix Morka, had earlier warned against the circulation of unofficial results and premature victory claims, insisting that only authorised organs of the party in Abuja had the power to announce authentic outcomes of the governorship primaries.
The APC also cautioned party supporters and aspirants against relying on figures circulating on social media, stressing that no official governorship primary result had been released in Benue State.
Political observers say the disagreement over the Benue APC governorship primary reflects rising tension within the ruling party as aspirants intensify efforts to secure tickets ahead of the 2027 elections.
