Zam, Udende lose APC senatorial tickets in Benue

The senators representing Benue North-West and Benue North-East Senatorial Districts, Senator Titus Zam and Senator Emmanuel Udende, have lost their All Progressives Congress (APC) senatorial tickets.

The incumbents lost to Benjamin Aber and former Governor Gabriel Suswam during the APC primaries on Monday.

Announcing the results on Tuesday in Makurdi, Chairman of the APC National Assembly Primary Election Committee for Benue, Alhaji Sabiu Mahuta, described the exercise as free and fair.

Mahuta, who also served as the returning officer for the three senatorial district primaries in the state, declared Suswam and Aber winners of the primaries and candidates of the APC for the 2027 elections.

“Suswam, having satisfied the requirements of the APC constitutional guidelines and having scored the highest number of votes, is hereby declared the winner of the primary election and returned as the APC senatorial candidate for Benue North-East Senatorial District,” he said.

Breaking down the results, Mahuta said a total of 145,766 delegates participated in the Benue North-East senatorial primary election.

According to him, Suswam polled 131,083 votes to emerge as the winner of the contest.

The incumbent senator, Emmanuel Udende, scored 1,374 votes, while Douglas Pepe, SAN, secured 7,304 votes.

Mahuta further disclosed that 124,898 delegates participated in the Benue North-West senatorial district primary.

He said Benjamin Aber emerged the winner after polling 93,413 votes to defeat the incumbent senator, Titus Zam, who scored 2,763 votes.

Emmanuel Jime, another aspirant in the contest, polled 5,435 votes.