ADC Primary: Ex Rep Herman Hembe emerges Benue guber candidate

…vows to reclaim occupied communities

By Peter Duru, Makurdi

Former member of the House of Representatives, Hon. Herman Hembe, has emerged as the governorship candidate of the African Democratic Congress, ADC, for the 2027 Benue State governorship election after defeating two other aspirants in the party’s primary election.

Hembe secured a total of 46,526 votes to clinch the party’s ticket ahead of his closest rival, Mr. Peter Adejoh, who polled 31,990 votes, while Mr. Joseph Waya came third with 26,919 votes.

The result of the primary election was announced on Monday at the ADC Secretariat in Makurdi by the governorship primary election returning officer, Mr. Victor Tukura, who described the exercise as peaceful, transparent and rancour-free.

Declaring Hembe winner of the contest, Tukura said, “Hon. Herman Hembe, having polled the highest number of votes, stands nominated as the governorship candidate of the ADC in Benue State.”

He explained that the exercise was conducted in line with the provisions of the ADC constitution and the guidelines guiding the conduct of the party’s governorship primary election.

According to him, “The exercise was peaceful, free, fair and credible, and we are optimistic that our candidate will triumph in the coming governorship election.”

Shortly after being declared winner, Hembe expressed appreciation to the leadership and members of the party for what he described as a historic and well-organized primary election.

“First of all, I would like to thank the leadership of the party in Benue State led by Senator Orker Jev, who is the chairman of our leadership team,” Hembe stated.

He also commended the acting state chairman of the party, Hon. Samson Okwu, alongside other party officials and stakeholders for ensuring the success of the exercise.

The former federal lawmaker maintained that the ADC remained determined to take over leadership in the state, stressing that the outcome of the primary reflected the confidence party members had in his candidature.

“The ADC is a party that is on a mission, and in Benue State, the party has always been poised to win. I am excited about the primaries, and I’m excited about the outcome,” Hembe added.

Speaking on insecurity in the state, the ADC governorship candidate accused the present administration of failing to tackle the worsening security situation, particularly attacks on rural communities.

According to him, “If you go and look at the inaugural speech of the present governor, there was no policy statement he made on inauguration. The only policy statement he made was that he was going to revisit the anti-open grazing law.”

Hembe alleged that the state government had abandoned the enforcement of the anti-open grazing law, thereby exposing communities to attacks by armed herders, bandits and terrorists. “They have abandoned it and allowed our communities to be terrorized by bandits and terrorists who have consistently killed our people,” he said.

He, however, assured Benue people that addressing insecurity and reclaiming occupied communities would be top priorities if elected governor.

“When we get to office, the first item on our agenda will be returning our lands to the people who own the lands,” Hembe declared.

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