Benue South APC Primary: Ochijele rejects result showing Alapa as winner

The collation officer for the May 18, 2026, All Progressives Congress APC senatorial primary election in Benue South, Dr Peter Sani Ochijele, has asked the police to investigate an alleged alteration of the election result presented by one of the aspirants, Hon. Nelson Godwin Onyilokwu Alapa.

Through his lawyers, Paul E. Ikwe and Jeremiah O. Adoga, Ochijele submitted a petition to the Commissioner of Police, Benue State Command. He urged the police to investigate discrepancies in the disputed result sheet and verify a signature bearing his name.

In the September 30, 2026 petition addressed to the police commissioner in Makurdi, the collation officer rejected the document. He maintained that its contents did not reflect the outcome of the primary election he supervised.

Six aspirants contested the election, Ochijele explained. Results from the nine local government areas went to the senatorial district collation centre at Lux Haven Hotel, Otukpo.

After aggregating the figures submitted by the nine local government collation officers, Ochijele presented the results to the National Assembly Primary Election Collation Officer, Alhaji Sabiu Saidu Mahuta.

Mahuta subsequently declared Dr Francis Ottah Agbo winner with 58,760 votes.

The announced results placed Hon. Joseph Ojobo second with 6,782 votes, followed by Hon. Gabriel Oloche Agidani with 5,246 votes.

Hon. Dan Onje scored 4,570 votes, while Alapa secured 4,312 votes. Hon. Patrick Idoko Ojechema came sixth with 2,732 votes.

Party stakeholders, security operatives, representatives of the aspirants and officials of the Independent National Electoral Commission INEC witnessed the announcement, Ochijele said.

He added that he signed the official result sheet and distributed copies to the aspirants’ agents, INEC and other relevant bodies. Mahuta and his secretary, Dr Bashir Garba, also signed the document before the team forwarded it to the APC.

However, Ochijele later learnt that Alapa had approached the Federal High Court in Abuja to challenge the primary election outcome.

The collation officer alleged that the result sheet Alapa presented in the court proceedings contained figures different from those announced at the Otukpo collation centre. The disputed document also purportedly presented Alapa as the winner.

Of particular concern to Ochijele were the 24,788 votes attributed to Alapa in the document. He insisted that the aspirant scored only 4,312 votes in the officially announced results.

Ochijele also clarified the limits of his assignment. His responsibility covered the aggregation and announcement of figures submitted by the local government collation officers. Mahuta and his team, he explained, handled the declaration of the winner and the return of the elected aspirant.

Denying any involvement in the disputed result sheet, Ochijele urged the police to authenticate the signature and compare it with his endorsement on the original election documents.

His lawyers maintained that their client did not recognise the disputed document as an authentic record of the primary election he supervised.

“Our client wishes to state categorically that the result which Hon. Nelson Godwin Onyilokwu Alapa has paraded in the processes filed in the court purporting to be the winner of the Benue South APC Senatorial Primary election did not originate or emanate from the election which our client was the Collation Agent,” the lawyers stated.

The solicitors also urged the police to establish how the disputed document was produced and introduced into the court proceedings.

In the petition, they asked the police to verify both result sheets and determine the source of the discrepancies. They further called for an investigation into possible manipulation or other irregularities.

Finally, Ochijele’s lawyers requested that investigators compare the disputed document with the original result announced at the Otukpo collation centre to establish the facts.