JOS, NIGERIA – The political landscape of Plateau State witnessed a definitive reordering as the incumbent Governor, Caleb Mutfwang, secured a sweeping, landslide victory in the All Progressives Congress (APC) governorship primary election. Mutfwang dominated the internal party contest by polling an overwhelming 233,335 votes, completely outclassing his sole challenger, a retired naval officer, Commodore Yilchini Jan Bida, who managed to garner a meager 3,070 votes across the 17 Local Government Areas of the state.
The official results, which were announced late Friday night at the APC State Secretariat in Jos, concluded a high-stakes verification process by the national leadership. Presenting the certified figures, the Chairman of the APC Committee for the Plateau State House of Assembly and Governorship Primary Election, Fidelis Mnyim Bemse, revealed that Governor Mutfwang maintained absolute dominance in virtually all wards, administrative zones, and polling units scattered across the length and breadth of the state.
Bemse disclosed that the internal party registry recorded a total of 240,832 registered party members eligible to vote in the exercise, out of which 236,405 accredited voters successfully cast their ballots. The remarkably high voter turnout reflected the intense mobilization efforts executed by the governor’s campaign network.
According to the official data released by the returning officer, the governor posted decisive, lopsided victories in several critical local government areas. Mutfwang cleared substantial majorities in his home council of Mangu, as well as the densely populated metropolis of Jos North. He also recorded clean sweeps across Kanke—which ironically serves as the immediate home local government area of his challenger, Commodore Bida—as well as Kanam, Jos South, Shendam, Langtang North, and Wase.
Providing a granular local breakdown of the voting patterns, Bemse noted that in Jos North Local Government Area, Mutfwang secured an astounding 26,652 votes against Bida’s remote count of 68 votes. The trend intensified in Mangu Local Government Area, where the sitting governor locked down 28,095 votes compared to the retired naval officer's 46 votes.
The mathematical gap between the two contenders remained exceptionally wide across the remaining geopolitical zones of the state. In Kanam Local Government Area, Mutfwang recorded 19,595 votes against Bida’s 119 votes. Meanwhile, in the southern stronghold of Shendam Local Government Area, the governor polled 17,208 votes while Bida managed to secure 389 votes.
Despite the sweeping momentum favoring the incumbent, Commodore Bida recorded his strongest, most visible electoral performances in Qua’an Pan and Kanke Local Government Areas, where his grassroots loops yielded 687 votes and 481 votes respectively. These figures, however, did little to alter the overall trajectory of the primary.
Declaring the final outcome of the shadow election to a gathering of party stakeholders, security agents, and media correspondents, Bemse stated that Mutfwang had fully fulfilled all statutory, constitutional, and administrative requirements of the APC guidelines. He noted that the governor emerged with the highest number of valid votes cast in an open, transparent, and largely peaceful exercise.
“Therefore, Caleb Mutfwang, having satisfied the requirements of the APC constitutional guidelines and scored the highest number of votes, is hereby declared the winner of the primary election and returned elected,” Bemse announced, effectively sealing the governor’s status as the party’s official standard-bearer.
With this primary election victory formally concluded, Mutfwang has officially transitioned into the validated APC governorship candidate in Plateau State ahead of the 2027 general elections. The victory marks a significant milestone for the governor following his high-profile defection from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to the ruling APC, effectively positioning his administration within the core federal framework of the national party as he prepares to run for a second term in office.
