Insight #NigeriaDecides: APC wins two senatorial seats in Benue

The All Progressives Congress (APC) has won two out of three senatorial zones in Benue State, according to results announced by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

The APC candidate in Benue North West senatorial district, Titus Zam, sent Governor Samuel Ortom into an early retirement in the polls.

Zam defeated the state governor to pick the senatorial seat for the zone by getting 143,151 of the votes cast.

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Ortom, who contested under the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) platform, polled 106,882 votes, while the Labour Party (LP) candidate, Mark Gbilah, came third with 51,950 votes.

This is the second time a sitting governor in the state has lost his bid to pick the senatorial seat in the state.

Former governor, Gabriel Suswam, lost his senatorial election for the Benue North East senatorial district to Engr. Barnabas Gamade in 2015. 

Suswam of the PDP, having won the senatorial seat in 2015, failed to do so again in 2023. This represents the second time he is losing an election, the first being in 2015.

Suswam lost to Emmanuel Udende of the All Progressives Congress (APC). Suswam polled 107,303 votes, while Udende got 141,405 votes. 

 Abba Moro of PDP retained the Benue South senatorial seat. The sitting lawmaker, who contested against Daniel Onjeh of the APC and Joe Ojobo of the LP, emerged victorious with 76,459 votes.

Daniel Onjeh got 59,938 votes, while Joe Ojobo received 40,194 votes.

Of the three available seats to the Senate in the state, APC got two, defeating the governor and a sitting senator, while the senator on the platform of the PDP retained his seat.