Earlier today, His Excellency, Rev. Fr. Dr Hyacinth Iormem Alia, the people’s governor, swore in the newly elected chairmen of the 23 Local government areas in the state who were massively and overwhelmly voted by the masses, with a charge for optimum performance.

It was exciting to witness such an epic event particularly because Governor Alia had kept yet another promise, this time a promise to ensure a free and fair election which he said is significant to upholding democratic values. I watched on TV what happened in similar elections in other states simultaneously and recalled what happened in our dear state in the past where names were announced on Radio and the electorates were informed of those they had “voted” into office . Imagine getting to hear on Radio that you voted for so so so and so for chairman/Councillor when you did not as much as see the ballot box not to mention the officials. It was quite disturbing more so that these “chosen” ones were more of Stooges than leaders.

The story was however different in the October 2024 LG elections and Everyone who cares to tell the truth will attest to the fact that His Excellency Governor Alia has completely broken such long standing political “traditions” by ensuring a free, Fair and credible, violence Free, inclusive election.

I’m not unaware of dissenting voices who will vehemently disagree with me but let’s quickly look at what makes Free and fair elections.

– First of all there must be valid Voter Registration: This means all eligible citizens can register to vote without unnecessary limitations. This factor depends one hundred percent on the electoral empire that comes with information flow from the electoral bodies. In Benue state, all voters were aware that elections were coming up and had their voter cards on standby. BSIEC does not have the time table for voter registration,( that is controlled by INEC) but all those who had registered were put on notice.

– Then there must be access to Reliable Information: Voters in the area in question must have access to accurate information about the timetable, the requirements, the whens and wheres. His Excellency ensured that this was not hidden from any political party that would participate in the proposed elections. An ingredient that was very visibly lacking before now. It was one fake information after the other, dates and changes in dates until suddenly you heard election is tomorrow.

– There must be Citizen Participation in a free and fair election.This particularly speaks to the fact that all Eligible citizens can run for office without fear of intimidation or reprisal irrespective of political affiliations. His Excellency ensured that all political parties were in the know of what was happening and primaries were conducted across political parties that were interested in running for the available offices. I recall an incident where a particular political party could not agree over candidates and court injunctions were flying left right and center.

– Then there must be Unrestricted Voting on the D-Day. On Saturday during the elections, All registered voters were allowed to cast their ballots without obstacles or intimidation and I am a thousand times certain that no Voter was threatened nor coerced into voting for a particular candidate, across the state.

– And then there is a matter of Accurate Ballot Counting: All ballots were on Saturday, counted accurately, and results were reported transparently and as a matter of fact the Election outcome was accepted by all parties involved and there were no dissenting voices.

Now, to ensure that these standards were met, His Excellency Rev Fr. Dr. Hyacinth Iormem Alia made sure that:

•….BSIEC that oversees the electoral process in the state remained impartial. He uprooted anything that would be a blockage to an impartial electoral body and took out those who were trying to make fraudulent money using the electoral body as a platform.

– ….there was an adequate Voter Education: Everyone resident in the state can testify to the massive voter Education that took place prior to the election. Every voter became very conversant with their rights and responsibilities before the elections.

– ….there were Peaceful Campaigns without restrictions. No political party was stopped or restricted by anyone while carrying out their campaigns. I hardly saw any political party that took full advantage of this like the APC.

– ..there were adequate Security Measures: His Excellency ensured that adequate security was prepared for the elections that took place on the Saturday the 5th of October 2024 thus Ensuring that polling stations and voting processes were secure. There were no reports of security failures or breaches throughout the elections across the 23 LGAs.

I believe strongly that by upholding these standards and implementing these measures, Governor Alia guaranteed free, fair and credible elections, reflecting the true will of the people thus fulfilling one of his cardinal promises to the people of Benue state.

Having established the above facts, I cannot still throw away the disgruntled and unsatisfied voices here and there but I’ll like such voices to answer these questions for me:

1. Where were they when the APC was preparing for elections? There was massive preparation by the APC from the primaries to to the vote cast. Nothing was taken for granted.

2. What were they doing when APC launched her campaigns in Gboko and took it massively across the LGs? Where is the evidence of their campaigns? One must adequately sell their candidates to be bought during elections.

3. Where did they get the intel that INEC rather than BSIEC would conduct the elections which made most of them slack from their outings. I have it on good authority that some political parties and groups were so sure that INEC was going to conduct the elections that they failed to step out.

On the whole, all evidences points to a more prepared APC than all other political parties and it is a known fact that “he who fails to plan, has planned to fail” which is no fault of His Excellency, Rev. Fr. Dr. Hyacinth Iormem Alia who did everything possible to ensure a free , fair and credible elections.

Surely our Benue shall be great again.

Solomon Iorpev

TA, MPS