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Torkwase Nyiekaa
Governorship aspirant of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Benue State, Dr. Jeffrey Kuraun, has rejected the outcome of the party’s governorship primary election held on May 21, 2026, describing the exercise as “a fraud” and “a complete murder of democracy.”
Addressing journalists during a press briefing, Kuraun alleged that the primary election was marred by widespread irregularities, manipulation, diversion of election materials, and falsification of results, insisting that the process failed to reflect the will of party members across the state.
“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,” he said.
“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.”
Kuraun stated that he was the only aspirant who fully complied with the party’s requirements ahead of the exercise, stressing that he properly submitted a comprehensive list of agents covering all wards and local government areas in the state.
“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,” he declared.
“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, and the submission was formally acknowledged.”
According to him, no other aspirant had agents physically present across the state during the exercise.
“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,” he said.
“Most importantly, I was the only aspirant with agents physically present and verifiably deployed across the field during the exercise. We have extensive pictorial and video evidence from wards and local governments across Benue State.”
The APC aspirant alleged that election materials meant for the exercise never arrived in many wards, thereby creating room for what he described as “fabricated results.”
“Our agents and supporters waited patiently at their respective ward centres for the arrival of election materials, which reportedly departed Makurdi at about 1:00 p.m.,” he said.
“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.”
He added: “This unfortunate development 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.”
Kuraun challenged anyone claiming victory in the primary to provide evidence that voting actually took place across the state.
“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,” he said.
The governorship aspirant further alleged that votes were allocated to aspirants whose supporters and agents were absent from several wards.
“Several disturbing irregularities emerged from the purported results announced,” he stated.
“There were allocations of votes to aspirants whose supporters and agents were not present in several wards.”
“There were also instances where I overwhelmingly won but was falsely recorded as scoring zero votes.”
He also alleged that names of persons who did not participate in the screening process were included in the results.
“We equally observed the inclusion of names of persons who reportedly did not participate in the screening process or were not duly cleared to contest,” he claimed.
“Fabricated figures were announced from locations where election materials never arrived and where voting never occurred.”
Kuraun accused some party officials of frustrating efforts to seek redress through the APC’s internal appeal mechanism.
“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,” he said.
“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.”
“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.”
He disclosed that he subsequently forwarded his petition to the APC national leadership through a courier service.
“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,” he stated.
“The complaint was officially acknowledged at the office of the National Chairman on 25th May 2026.”
Kuraun lamented that despite sending a reminder and pre-action notice through his lawyers, the party leadership had yet to respond to his complaint.
“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,” he said.
“On 27th May 2026, I further sent a formal reminder and pre-action notice through my solicitors, again urging the party leadership to urgently address the complaint before the expiration of the statutory timelines applicable to pre-election matters.”
“As of today, we are still awaiting a response.”
The APC aspirant insisted that his struggle was beyond personal ambition, noting that it was about protecting democracy and preserving the integrity of the party.
“This struggle is not merely about one individual or one political ambition,” he said.
“This is about protecting the integrity of democracy, preserving the credibility of our great party, and defending the rights of thousands of APC members and supporters across Benue State who were disenfranchised during the process.”
“The truth remains that our supporters overwhelmingly turned out across the state in anticipation of a free and fair primary election. Their voices and participation must not be ignored or suppressed through administrative manipulation.”
Kuraun called on the National Working Committee (NWC) of the APC to either cancel the primary and conduct a fresh exercise or declare him winner based on what he described as substantial compliance with party guidelines.
“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 and conduct a fresh, transparent, and independently supervised primary election,” he said.
“Alternatively, I should be declared 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.”
“Benue deserves credible leadership recruitment processes, not manufactured outcomes,” he added.
“Internal democracy remains the foundation upon which public democratic legitimacy rests. Once internal democracy collapses, governance itself becomes endangered.”
Kuraun, however, urged his supporters to remain peaceful and law-abiding while pursuing justice through democratic means.
“I remain peaceful, law-abiding, and committed to pursuing justice through democratic and lawful means,” he stated.
“I also urge all my supporters across Benue State to remain calm, orderly, and steadfast as we continue to seek redress through legitimate institutional channels.”
“History will ultimately remember those who defended truth and democracy at difficult moments such as this.”