Benue River, previously known as the Chadda River or Tchadda, is the major tributary of the Niger River. The size of its catchment basin is 319,000 km2. Almost its entire length of approximately 1,400 kilometres (870 mi) is navigable during the summer months. As a result, it is an important transportation route in the regions through which it flows. The name Benue comes from Binuwe, meaning 'Mother of Waters’ in the Batta language.
Benue State is one of the North Central states in Nigeria with a population of about 4,253,641 in the 2006 census. The state was created in 1976 and was among the seven states created at that time. The state derives its name from the Benue River which is the second largest river in Nigeria after the River Niger. The state borders Nasarawa State to the North; Taraba State to the East; Kogi State to the West; Enugu State to the South-West; Ebonyi and Cross-Rivers State to the South; and has an international border with Cameroon to the South-East. It is inhabited predominantly by the Tiv, Idoma, and Igede people. Minority ethnic groups in Benue are Etulo, Igbo, and Jukun people, etc. Its capital is Makurdi. Benue is a rich agricultural region; common crops cultivated in the statte include oranges, yams, mangoes, sweet potatoes, cassava, soya bean, guinea corn, flax,, sesame, rice, groundnuts, and palm trees.
Nasarawa State is a state in the North Central region of Nigeria, bordered to the east by the states of Taraba and Plateau, to the north by Kaduna State, to the south by the states of Benue and Kogi, and to the west by the Federal Capital Territory. Named for the historic Nasarawa Emirate, the state was formed from the west of Plateau State on 1 October 1996. The state has thirteen local government areas and its capital is Lafia, located in the east of the state, while a key economic centre of the state is the Karu Urban Area—suburbs of Abuja—along the western border with the FCT.
Makurdi is the capital of Benue State, located in central Nigeria, and part of the Middle Belt region of central Nigeria. The city is situated on the south bank of the Benue River. In 2016, Makurdi and the surrounding areas had an estimated population of 365,000.
Joseph Dechi Gomwalk was a Nigerian police commissioner and the first military governor of the defunct Benue-Plateau State. He was tried and then executed due to his alleged connections to the Buka Suka Dimka's attempted coup against the military government of Murtala Mohammed.
BCC Lions Football Club is a Nigerian football team based in Gboko, Benue State, that competes in the Nigeria Amateur League, and plays its home games at the Joseph Sarwuan Tarka Stadium.
Senator Joseph Sarwuan Tarka (1932–1980) was a Nigerian politician from Benue State and a former minister for Transport and then Communications under General Yakubu Gowon. He was one of the founding members of the United Middle Belt Congress, a political organization dedicated to protecting and advocating for the country's Middle Belt.
The FederalUniversity of Agriculture, Makurdi (UAM) renamed Joseph Sarwuan Tarka University, Makurdi, Benue State is a higher education institution in Makurdi, Benue State, Nigeria.
The Nigerian National Assembly delegation from Benue comprises three Senators representing Benue South, Benue North-East, and Benue North-West, and 11 Representatives representing Apa/Agatu, Kwande/Ushongo, Oju/Obi Vandeikya/Konshisha, Buruku, Ado/Ogbadigba/Opkokwu,Katsina-Ala/Ukum/Logo, Gboko/Tarka,Makurdi/Guma,Gwer/Gwer-west and Otukpo/Ohimini.
Ohimini is a Local Government Area of Benue State, Nigeria. Its headquarters are in the town of Idekpa-Okpikwu.Ohimini was created out of the present Otukpo Local Government Area of Benue State. Major districts under the Ohimini local government are Onyagede which share boundary with Kogi state has the following villages, Amoke, Enumona, Ogodu, Awume, Ikpoke, Ogoli, Ogande, Ugofu, Ipolabakpa, Umonomi and Iyaya, Okpikwu, Agadagba, Oglewu and Idekpa the capital.
Aper Aku (1938–1988) was elected governor of Benue State, Nigeria in October 1979 and reelected in October 1983, he left office after the military coup in December 1983 which General Mohammadu Buhari came to power.
Very Rev. Fr. Moses Orshio Adasu became governor of Benue State, Nigeria on 2 January 1992, elected on the Social Democratic Party (SDP) platform. He left office after the military coup in November 1993 in which General Sani Abacha came to power.
The Igede people are a Nigerian ethnic group in Lower Benue State of Nigeria. They are native to the Oju and Obi local government areas of Nigeria, where 2006 population figures stand at an estimated 267,198 people. However, many Igede people are dispersed across the state and the Nation. For instance, the Igede language is also spoken in Nigeria's Cross River State, and many Igede communities exist in Osun State and Ogun State. The Igede language is a member of the Benue-Congo subgroup of the Niger-Congo language family.
John Dyegh is a Nigerian politician, businessman and philanthropist from Gboko, Benue State who served as a member of the 9th Nigeria National Assembly, representing Gboko/Tarka Federal constituency at the House of Representatives of Nigeria. Dyegh previously served as a member of committee on Appropriations, Drugs, Narcotics and Financial Crimes, Education, Gas Resources, Inter-Parliamentary Relations, Science and Technology in the 7th National Assembly. He ran for the second term as a favourite candidate, bearing the flag of the All Progressives Congress and retained his seat, following the announcement of 28 March National Assembly Polls in the 2015 General Elections in which he polled 67,463 votes to defeat his challenger, Bernard Nenger of the Peoples' Democratic Party (PDP) with 26,329 votes. He ran for a third term on the platform of the All Progressives Congress and won. Dyegh successfully served his 3rd term in the National Assembly and was the House committee chairman on Human Rights. He ran for a fourth term under the platform of the Peoples' Democratic Party where he lost to Regina Akume, a candidate of the All Progressives Congress in the 2023 general elections.
Benue North-West senatorial district is well known as Zone B in Benue State. The senatorial district has seven local governments which include Buruku, Gboko, Tarka, Guma, Makurdi, Gwer and Gwer West. There are 90 electoral wards and 1,286 polling units as of 2019 polls. The current representative of Benue North-West senatorial district is Titus Zam of the All Progressives Congress, APC.
The Benue State House of Assembly is the legislative arm of the government of Benue State of Nigeria. It is a unicameral legislature with 32 members elected from the 23 local government areas of the state. This makes the number of legislators in the Benue State House of Assembly 32.
The 2023 Benue State gubernatorial election took place on 18 March 2023, to elect the Governor of Benue State, concurrent with elections to the Benue State House of Assembly as well as twenty-seven other gubernatorial elections and elections to all other state houses of assembly. The election — which was postponed from its original 11 March date — was held three weeks after the presidential election and National Assembly elections. Incumbent PDP Governor Samuel Ortom was term-limited and could not seek re-election to a third term. Hyacinth Alia — a suspended Catholic priest — gained the office for the APC by a 33% margin over PDP nominee House of Assembly Speaker Titus Uba.
The 2019 Benue State House of Assembly election was held on March 9, 2019, to elect members of the Benue State House of Assembly in Nigeria. All the 30 seats were up for election in the Benue State House of Assembly.
The 2023 Nigerian presidential election in Benue State will be held on 25 February 2023 as part of the nationwide 2023 Nigerian presidential election to elect the president and vice president of Nigeria. Other federal elections, including elections to the House of Representatives and the Senate, will also be held on the same date while state elections will be held two weeks afterward on 11 March.
Nigeria 
