…Alleges results were written in an Otukpo hotel
Two aspirants in the All Progressives Congress (APC) primary election for the Otukpo/Ohimini Federal Constituency seat in Benue State have rejected the results of the exercise, for which the daughter of former Senate President, David Mark, Hon. Blessing Onuh, was declared the winner.
The protesters, former Commissioner for Information in the state, Hon. Lawrence Onoja, Ekpo, accompanied by another aspirant, Hon. Andrew Agbo Abu, who spoke to journalists in Makurdi, alleged gross “irregularities, manipulation of results, and violation of the constituency’s zoning arrangement”.
The duo, who contended that they have already submitted separate petitions to the party leadership challenging the conduct of the primary election allegedly won by Hon. Blessing Onuh.
Onoja claimed that electoral materials meant for the exercise were diverted from the designated polling centres to the residence of the Deputy Governor in Otukpo before allegedly being ‘moved to Ochacho Hotel’.
He said, “The zoning has already existed. Ohimini has done it for two terms. Otukpo is finishing its second term. Unfortunately, the incumbent has been boasting that she has the money to buy it all.
“And I think to a large extent, she has succeeded in doing that because on the day of primaries when everybody had gone into the fields for elections, there was no accreditation, nothing was done”, he alleged.
“The materials were taken to the house of the Deputy Governor in Otukpo and handed over to Blessing, and she took it to Ochacho Hotel, Room 003 to be precise, and they wrote all the results there”, Onoja alleged.
The former Information Commissioner questioned the authenticity of the results allegedly declared in favour of the incumbent lawmaker, arguing that the figures announced exceeded the number of registered APC members in the constituency.
According to him, the result sheet allegedly credited him with only 975 votes despite strong support from his ward, while Onuh allegedly allocated over 17,000 votes to herself even though APC membership figures in Otukpo and Ohimini combined were, according to him, slightly above 15,000.
“I am here to state categorically that there were no primaries whatsoever in Otukpo/Ohimini”, Onoja declared.
He also argued that, beyond the alleged irregularities, the outcome violated the rotational arrangement between Otukpo and Ohimini local government areas, insisting that it was Ohimini’s turn to produce the next representative.
“The truth is that the electorate is already angry. In fact, there was a protest in Otukpo that it is Ohimini’s turn this time. If Blessing is so honoured, they should give her something else. They can give her an appointment, minister, or Senate. But we as a people rotate our zoning. It is not proper to come and shortchange Ohimini as a whole,” he said.
“In fact, taking it to a private place, doing hotel votes, the result is already null and void,” he stated.
Also speaking, another aggrieved aspirant, Hon. Andrew Agbo Abu, supported Onoja’s allegations and warned that the APC could lose future elections if internal democracy was undermined.
Abu described the primary as “an aberration of democracy” and accused Hon. Blessing Onuh of allegedly hijacking and absconding with voting materials, thereby denying party members the opportunity to participate in the process.
He warned that imposing candidates against the wishes of party supporters could weaken the APC’s chances in the 2027 general elections.
“We have the general elections coming up in front of us. If the party is not careful with what it does at the grassroots, the party will suffer a lot of defeats.
“There was no election in Otukpo/Ohimini. It was an illegal selection that was done”, he insisted.
He appealed to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and the APC leadership to intervene in the matter to prevent a recurrence of such controversies.
