Governor Hyacinth Alia has emerged as the governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress in Benue State ahead of the 2027 general elections after securing a decisive victory in the party’s primary election.

The chairman of the APC Governorship Primary Election Committee in the state, Mohammed Kabiru Isa, announced the results on Friday, declaring Alia winner of the exercise.

According to the results released by the committee, the incumbent governor polled 367,786 votes to defeat the two other aspirants in the contest, Terwase Orbunde and Jeffrey Kuranun, who scored 3,247 and 2,923 votes respectively.

Alia, who was present during the announcement of the results, called on party members and supporters to remain united and continue working together for the development of the state.

He said members of the party shared a common goal of advancing the interests of Benue State and urged his opponents and their supporters to join hands with his administration.

The governor also expressed appreciation to delegates and party members who participated in the primary election and supported his candidacy.

According to him, the continued support of residents would strengthen efforts aimed at promoting development, improving human capacity and advancing governance in the state.

Political observers within the party said the outcome of the governorship, state assembly and National Assembly primaries reflected the growing influence of the governor’s political camp within the APC structure in Benue State.

The development was also viewed by some stakeholders as a setback for allies of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, George Akume, following the dominance of candidates aligned with the governor during the primary elections.