The Sun Newspapers has nominated Hyacinth Alia, governor of Benue State, for its 2026 Governor of the Year Award.
Gatekeepers News reports that Onuoha Ukeh, Managing Director and Editor-in-Chief of The Sun Newspapers, presented the nomination letter to Alia on Thursday at the Government House in Makurdi, the state capital.
Ukeh said the nomination was based on merit, citing the governor’s programmes and projects aimed at accelerating development across the state.
He highlighted the transformation of Makurdi, interventions in the health sector and the development of primary healthcare centres across Benue.
According to Ukeh, the Benue State University Teaching Hospital has also emerged as a medical tourism centre following interventions by the Alia administration.
He listed Food Basket Breweries and Bensono Fruit Juice Factory among the governor’s legacy projects, while also commending his administration’s focus on road infrastructure, workers’ welfare and support for senior citizens.
“Only someone with a clear vision on how he wants to leave a state after his tenure will indulge in very useful ventures such as the revival of ailing industries like Taraku Mills etc, and Fr. Alia has done this,” Ukeh said.
“Our choice of you is justifiable. We have tracked development in your state, and we know what you are doing, especially with road infrastructure and the welfare of the state’s workforce and care for the senior citizens who were hitherto neglected and allowed to degenerate to destitute.”
Responding to the nomination, Alia said he was pleased that his administration’s achievements had attracted recognition beyond Benue.
The governor said he deliberately stopped using sirens in his convoy after assuming office, choosing instead to allow his projects and interventions to speak for his administration.
“Let interventions in creating jobs be my siren; let the roads I am building serve as my siren; let the companies I am building be my siren and other achievements I have recorded within this time,” he said.
The award ceremony is scheduled to take place on November 13 at the Expo Convention Centre, Eko Hotels and Suites, Victoria Island, Lagos.
