Benue Politician Byuan Declares Labour Party Gubernatorial Candidacy, Distances Himself from APC

The only Labour Party (LP) candidate for governor in Benue State, Dr. Mathias Byuan, has said that his name was wrongly included in the All Progressive Congress (APC) gubernatorial primaries list for the state. He described the inclusion as “mischief, false, misleading and unauthorised.”

In a statement signed personally on Thursday, Dr. Byuan announced that he had formally resigned from the APC and withdrawn his candidacy. He questioned why the APC would publish his name among the party’s aspirants when he had not appeared for the party’s screening process.

The APC had released its list of cleared aspirants for the Benue governorship on Thursday, mistakenly listing Byuan as a contestant. The party is conducting primaries across the 23 local government areas of Benue, with Byuan’s name appearing among the candidates.

In his statement, titled “Unauthorised circulation of my name as an APC Gubernatorial Aspirant for Benue State,” Byuan urged the Benue public, the APC, the LP, and the Nigerian public to ignore the ongoing APC primaries and to distance themselves from any association with the APC in Benue State.

“I, Mathias Terwase Byuan PhD, wish to state without any iota of ambiguity that I am no longer a member of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and I am not an aspirant for the office of Governor of Benue State under the APC,” he wrote. “I resigned my membership of the APC on the 7th May 2026. I duly notified my Council Ward Chairman in writing on that date. I also transmitted a copy of the resignation letter to the National Chairman of the APC on the 8th May 2026. The letter was received and acknowledged by his office. To ensure proper service and avoid any denial, I forwarded a copy of the resignation letter via DHL to the party. I further executed a Notary Public attestation of my voluntary withdrawal and submitted it to the Screening Committee of the party. I have also formally withdrawn my candidacy in writing to the Chairman of the APC Screening Committee. For the avoidance of doubt, any list, publication, or circulation bearing my name as an aspirant cleared to contest for the APC Governorship ticket is false, misleading, and unauthorized. I am not bound by any resolution or process relating to the said primaries.”

He added that he is now running for governor under the LP platform and has been screened, awaiting the party’s primaries on 30th May 2026.

The LP hopeful also attached to his press statement a letter of his APC membership resignation to his Council Ward Chairman; an APC Letter of Voluntary Withdrawal with Notary Public attestation to the National Chairman; a Letter of Withdrawal of his Candidacy to the Chairman of the Screening Committee; and the Certificate of Screening issued by the Labour Party Screening Committee.

Consequently, he urged the general public, party members, media outlets, and supporters to note and disregard any contrary information.

Meanwhile, Dr. Byuan reiterated his support for President Bola Tinubu, expressing confidence in the President’s Renewed Hope Agenda. He called on all Benue people to vote for Tinubu in 2027 and to support his gubernatorial ambition as well as those of other Labour Party candidates in Benue State.