INEC says 592 candidates will contest 52 seats in Benue in 2027
- Benue's INEC office says 592 candidates are seeking 52 elective positions in the 2027 elections.
- Twelve are running for governor and 422 for the 37-seat State House of Assembly.
- The state has 3,057,225 registered voters across 276 wards and 5,102 polling units.
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) says 592 candidates will contest 52 elective positions in Benue State in the 2027 general elections, with the governorship drawing 12 hopefuls.
The state's Resident Electoral Commissioner, Aminu Idris, gave the figures on Wednesday at a stakeholders' meeting at INEC's headquarters in Makurdi, according to the commission.
For an ordinary voter in Benue, the numbers mean long ballot papers and crowded races in nearly every corner of the state, from the governorship down to the ward-level House of Assembly seats.
Where the candidates are running
Twelve candidates are seeking the governorship. Forty are contesting the three senatorial seats: 15 in Benue South, 13 in Benue North-West and 12 in Benue North-East.
In the House of Representatives, 118 candidates are running across the state's 11 federal constituencies. Otukpo/Ohimini has the most, with 15 candidates, followed by Apa/Agatu and Oju/Obi with 12 each.
Kwande/Ushongo has 11 candidates. Ado/Ogbadibo/Okpokwu, Buruku, Gboko/Tarka, Gwer East/West and Konshisha/Vandeikya have 10 each, while Guma/Makurdi and Katsina-Ala/Ukum/Logo have nine each.
The State House of Assembly has the largest field, with 422 candidates seeking 37 seats. Idris said the number of constituencies rose from 32 to 37 after a court restored five that had been suppressed.
INEC put Benue's registered voters at 3,057,225, spread across 276 registration areas, known as wards, and 5,102 polling units.
What happens next
The general elections are scheduled for January 16 and February 6, 2027. Idris urged political parties to start preparing now and assured stakeholders that INEC is ready to conduct the polls.
For voters, the practical tasks are checking that their names appear on the register and knowing their polling unit before election day, since the large candidate lists could slow voting in some areas.
