An aide to the National Leader of the Social Democratic Party(SDP), Mr Ngukpen Diogo, says the party’s primaries to elect National and State Legislative candidates for the 2019 general elections in Benue were marred by irregularities.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Sen. Barnabas Gemade who recently defected from the PDP to the SDP, was made SDP’s National Leader.

Diogo, who is one of Sen. Gemade’s aides, disclosed to NAN on Sunday in Makurdi that some hoodlums hijacked electoral materials and snatched ballot boxes.

He regretted that the primaries could not hold in two of seven local government areas comprising the Benue North East Senatorial Districts

The aide, however, said that notwithstanding the anomalies, Gemade won in the five local government areas where the primary held.

Some of the House of Assembly contestants including David Iher, Akatyo Dickson and Samuel Abaji complained of incidences of ballot box snatching and stuffing of ballot boxes.

They also claimed that the entire process was characterised by irregularities such as the use of thugs, tampering with election results and other electoral vices.

The aggrieved aspirants said they took their complaints to the party’s secretariat for resolution.

They said as far as they were concerned “No SDP election held in Makurdi North but we are hearing they are going to announce results”.

Reacting to the allegations, the Chairman of SDP in Benue, Mr John Enemari, said the party was still collating results and would address newsmen later in the day.