Benue State Governor Hyacinth Alia pledged Monday to deliver at least 620,000 votes for President Bola Tinubu in the 2027 general election, double the 310,468 votes Tinubu received in the state during the 2023 presidential poll.
Alia made the pledge while addressing State House correspondents after meeting Tinubu at the Aso Rock Presidential Villa alongside former Governor Gabriel Suswam. “I am very confident that as I won the election, even the first time, we are going to double the numbers for him. APC will continue to remain just one hold, one threshold, and we are going to make it good for him and for the entire Benue State as well,” Alia said.
Tinubu narrowly carried Benue in 2023, polling 310,468 votes against Peter Obi’s 308,372, a margin of just 2,096 votes that upended the state’s political dynamics after years as a PDP stronghold under former Governor Samuel Ortom, who had openly backed Obi. Alia pointed to Suswam’s recent alignment with the APC as one of several developments he believes will strengthen the ruling party’s position in the state heading into 2027.
The governor said the Villa visit covered several issues beyond politics, including an update on the security situation, the status of internally displaced persons, the ongoing farming season, and the mood within the APC following its primaries. “Previously we’ve had lots of security hits. It has calmed down. The President needed to know the position of the IDPs now in the state,” Alia said, describing Benue as the nation’s food basket and noting concerns around whether IDPs returning home voluntarily still face anxieties the government needs to address.
On Suswam’s formal APC alignment, Alia said the former governor’s political stature warranted a direct meeting with the President. “I am here with the former Governor of the state, Senator Gabriel Suswam, who also joined ranks with the APC. Someone in the big three of his stature requires that he interfaces with Mr President directly as well,” he said. He acknowledged lingering tension within the Benue APC following its primaries but expressed confidence it would settle, describing Tinubu as a democrat and grassroots politician who understands such friction.
Alia also referenced Tinubu’s visit to Benue roughly a week earlier for the state’s 50th anniversary celebrations, during which Chief of Staff Femi Gbajabiamila, representing the President, commissioned a fruit concentrate factory. He said a beer factory and a separate fruit juice factory from that visit are still awaiting commissioning, while the First Lady commissioned 10 urban renewal road projects during the same period. “We came to thank him for showing up at Benue at 50, and then also to have him updated on the situation report of the entire state,” Alia said.
