Governorship aspirant of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) in Benue State, Hon. Joseph Waya, has rejected the purported results of the party’s governorship primaries conducted between May 22 and 23, 2026, describing the entire exercise as a “charade” riddled with widespread irregularities, manipulation, and outright non-conduct of elections across several local government areas in the state.
In a formal petition submitted to the Benue State ADC Electoral Appeal Committee, Waya alleged that the primaries were marred by diversion of electoral materials, disappearance of officials, unlawful substitution of returning officers, secret compilation of results, and deliberate disenfranchisement of party members.
According to the petition, no lawful governorship primaries took place in several key local government areas, including Konshisha, Gwer West, Gboko, Ushongo, Makurdi, Buruku, Guma, Otukpo, Ado, Okpokwu, Apa, Obi, Ogbadibo and Ohimini Local Government Areas.
Waya stated that party members, delegates, and stakeholders waited for hours at designated ward centres and party secretariats, only for electoral materials to either arrive late or fail to arrive completely. He further alleged that in many cases, results were later fabricated and written in favour of a preferred aspirant despite the absence of any credible voting process.
“The exercise fell far below the minimum standards of transparency, fairness, and democratic credibility expected of a political party primary,” Waya said. “What took place was nothing short of a coordinated effort to manipulate the process and impose predetermined outcomes on party members.”
The governorship aspirant particularly condemned reports of fictitious figures allegedly inserted into result sheets and the secret movement of electoral materials to undisclosed locations where results were purportedly compiled outside the knowledge of delegates and stakeholders.
He therefore called on the National leadership of the party to immediately reject and nullify all purported results arising from the flawed exercise, investigate those responsible for the alleged manipulation, and conduct a fresh, transparent, and credible governorship primary election across the state.
He maintained that his petition is backed by solid and credible evidence of non compliance and complicity across the 23 local government areas of the state and urged the national leadership of the ADC to intervene decisively in order to preserve the integrity and credibility of the party in Benue State.
Despite expressing deep dissatisfaction with the process, the aspirant appealed to his supporters across the state to remain calm, peaceful, and law-abiding while lawful steps are being taken to challenge what he described as “gross electoral illegality.”
“I urge all my supporters not to take the law into their hands. We remain committed to democratic principles and due process. We shall pursue every legitimate avenue available within the party and under the law to challenge these illegalities and defend the mandate and rights of our supporters,” he stated.
