2027: 592 candidates to contest 52 seats in Benue — INEC

The Independent National Electoral Commission INEC has announced that 592 candidates will contest 52 elective positions in Benue State during the 2027 general elections, with 3,057,225 registered voters expected to vote across 5,102 polling units.

Benue Resident Electoral Commissioner REC, Aminu Idris, disclosed this on Wednesday during a stakeholders’ meeting at the commission’s state collation centre in Makurdi.

The meeting brought together representatives of political parties, civil society organisations and the media to review INEC’s preparations for the elections.

Idris said the presidential and National Assembly elections would hold on January 16, 2027, while the governorship and State House of Assembly elections were scheduled for February 6, 2027.

He urged political parties and other stakeholders to support efforts to ensure peaceful, free, fair, credible and inclusive elections across the state.

The REC disclosed that 18 political parties had candidates for the presidential election, while 12 parties were participating in the Benue governorship race.

He said 40 candidates would contest the state’s three senatorial seats, with 12 candidates in Benue North-East, 13 in Benue North-West and 15 in Benue South.

For the House of Representatives, 118 candidates would compete for 11 seats. Otukpo/Ohimini Federal Constituency recorded the highest number, with 15 candidates.

Idris added that 422 candidates would contest the 37 seats in the Benue State House of Assembly.

At the national level, he said 18 of the 22 registered political parties submitted nominations for the presidential election, while 21 parties fielded candidates for governorship and legislative elections.

He also confirmed that INEC had published the final lists of nominated candidates in line with Section 32(1) of the Electoral Act, 2026.

According to him, the commission released the list for the presidential and National Assembly elections on September 12, 2026, and published that for the governorship and state assembly elections on October 10, 2026.

Idris said Benue state constituencies increased from 32 to 37 following court judgments that restored 27 constituencies across Benue, Delta, Jigawa and Kogi states.

The five restored constituencies in Benue are Ukum II Afia in Ukum Local Government Area, Konshisha Shange-Tiev in Konshisha, Gboko III Central in Gboko, Makurdi III South-East in Makurdi, and Nyamatsor in Buruku.

He urged political parties to begin training their polling agents, particularly on the procedures for uploading and deploying agents to polling units and collation centres.

On electoral preparations, the REC disclosed that INEC had started distributing non-sensitive election materials to its state and area council offices.

He said the commission had also completed an inventory of its Bimodal Voter Accreditation System BVAS devices ahead of the elections.

According to Idris, INEC physically inspected 5,381 BVAS devices, of which 5,277, representing 98 per cent, were confirmed functional and ready for deployment.

He added that the commission had informed its national headquarters about the faulty devices for replacement.

Idris said INEC displayed the voter register for claims and objections across Benue 23 local government areas between October 9 and 15, 2026.

The exercise generated 1,052 submissions, comprising 947 claims and 105 objections.

During the same period, voters collected 58,581 Permanent Voter Cards PVCs. The figure included 9,139 old PVCs, 28,854 cards issued through the Continuous Voter Registration CVR exercise, 12,707 transferred cards and 7,881 replacement cards.

The REC further disclosed that Benue received 101,695 PVCs from INEC headquarters under the first phase of the CVR and voter transfer exercise.

The consignment comprised 54,724 newly issued cards and 46,971 PVCs for transferred voters.

He said voters could still collect previously issued PVCs at INEC offices across the 23 local government areas. The commission, he added, would announce separately when cards from the second and third CVR phases would be available.

The REC informed civil society organisations that the portal for applications to observe the 2027 general elections closed on October 26, 2026.

He advised organisations planning to deploy observers to coordinate with their national headquarters to ensure their field personnel were uploaded and accredited.

Idris stressed that observers must obtain their identification cards and tags before the elections.