Hon. Aondona Hyacinth Dajoh has emerged as the newly elected Speaker of the 10th Benue State House of Assembly after controversy and three rounds of intense voting.
POLITICS NIGERIA reports that the election, which took place on Monday, witnessed a chaotic scene as members of the assembly engaged in heated shouting during the proceedings.
The session began with Governor Hyacinth Alia inaugurating the 10th assembly, setting the stage for the 32 members to elect their speaker and deputy speaker.
Dajoh, representing Gboko West, garnered support from the governor and his loyalists in the All Progressives Congress (APC).
On the other hand, Becky Orpine, who represents Gboko East, received the nomination from the Pro-George Akume camp of the APC and enjoyed the backing of the State Working Committee.
The initial ballot ended in a tie, with both candidates securing 16 votes each. Consequently, a second round of voting was conducted. However, this round was marred by a fierce exchange among members, accusing certain individuals of attempting to manipulate the voting process and sway the results in favour of a particular candidate.
Amidst the chaos, supporters of both the pro-Akume and pro-Alia factions passionately demanded the cancellation of the second round, citing undue influence on the voting process.
Finally, the third round of voting commenced at 3:31 pm and concluded at 3:38 pm.
The subsequent vote count revealed 15 votes for Orpine and 17 votes for Dajoh.
