Emmanuel Memga Udende is a Nigerian politician, who is the Senator for Benue North East Senatorial District (Zone A) on the ticket of

All Progressives Congress The All Progressives Congress (APC) is one of the two major contemporary political parties in Nigeria, along with the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). Founded on 6 February 2013 from a merger of Nigeria's three largest opposition parties, t ...

, APC. He defeated

incumbent The incumbent is the current holder of an office or position. In an election, the incumbent is the person holding or acting in the position that is up for election, regardless of whether they are seeking re-election. There may or may not be ...

senator and former governor of Benue State

Gabriel Suswam Gabriel Torwua Suswam (born 15 November 1964) is a Nigerian politician and former Governor of Benue State. He represented Benue North-East Senatorial district in the 9th National Assembly of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. Early life and ed ...

in the February 25, 2023, National Assembly

elections An election is a formal group decision-making process whereby a population chooses an individual or multiple individuals to hold public office. Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative democracy has operated ...

Political career

Udende was elected to Federal House of Representatives in 2011 to represent Ukum/Katsina-Ala/Logo Federal Constituency on the ticket of the People's Democratic Party, PDP. He was re-elected to the House in 2015 on same party ticket but cross-carpeted to the APC in 2016 citing leadership crises in the party. He failed to return to the House in 2019. In 2022, he clinched the

nomination Nomination is part of the process of selecting a candidate for either election to a public office, or the bestowing of an honor or award. A collection of nominees narrowed from the full list of candidates is a short list. Political office In ...

of his party to run for Benue North East senatorial seat after polling 211,887 to defeat his major opponent Chief Terlumun Akputu who scored 84,304 in a direct primary election. In the general election on 25 February 2023, Udende of the APC polled 141,405 to beat the

senator and former

governor A governor is an politician, administrative leader and head of a polity or Region#Political regions, political region, in some cases, such as governor-general, governors-general, as the head of a state's official representative. Depending on the ...

of Benue State Gabriel Suswam of the PDP who scored 107,303 votes. Suswam rejected the results and said he would challenge it at the Tribunal to reclaim it. In the proceeding

Election Petition An election is a formal group decision-making process whereby a population chooses an individual or multiple individuals to hold public office. Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative democracy has operate ...

tribunal Udende was initially defeated and he appealed the decision to The Nigerian Court of Appeal who then ruled j. His favour citing various errors in the decision of the lower

tribunal A tribunal, generally, is any person or institution with authority to judge, adjudicate on, or determine claims or disputes—whether or not it is called a tribunal in its title. For example, an advocate who appears before a court with a singl ...

. Udende currently seats as the chairman of the Nigerian Senate Committee on Anti Corruption and deputy chairman of the Nigerian Senate Committee for Privatization.

References

* https://nass.gov.ng/documents/download/11082 * https://www.channelstv.com/2023/11/01/appeal-court-sacks-suswam-as-benue-senator/amp/ * https://www.peoplesdailyng.com/i-will-get-justice-at-appeal-court-senator-udende/ Living people Year of birth missing (living people) All Progressives Congress politicians {{Nigeria-stub