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Tag: Gemade

  • Benue: APC’s Alia will get second tenure without stress – Ex-PDP chairman

    Benue: APC’s Alia will get second tenure without stress – Ex-PDP chairman

    Senator Barnabas Gemade, former National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party(PDP), has said that Gov Hyacinth Alia would secure a second tenure in 2027 without much stress.

    Gemade, while addressing APC supporters in Vandeikya, hinged his confidence on Alia’s achievements.

    The governor is currently on a thank you tour to Vandiekya and Konshisha Local Governments.

    Gemade said that the Jechira people in particular, and Benue people in general, were solidly behind the government of Alia.

    He said the administration had performed very well in the last one year.

    “Alia’s scorecard is better than any governor in Benue; he is competing with Aper Aku who, before now, was number one,” he said

    In his speech, Gov Alia lamented the level of underdevelopment in Benue, saying that past administrations failed to take to develop Benue.

    He said the massive transformation being witnessed in the state was divine and intended to restore the state’s lost glory.

    “Many years ago, Benue was taken 40 years backward. In between, we had great heroes who came in to do their bit and set the people free.

    “This is one of the reasons God wants you to join forces with great few governors who have demonstrated love for their state and for humanity.

    “We should bring development and bring our children back to the pedestal that should be in the classroom so that our tomorrow becomes very prosperous and futuristic.

    “What we have done in the area of renovation of schools, hospitals, roads construction, provision of electricity among many others in the last one year is just a tip of the iceberg,” he said

    Alia further commended President Bola Tinubu for his laudable initiatives aimed at putting the country back on the fast lane of development.

    He said that such lofty programmes are also targeted at improving the lives of teeming unemployed youths to make them economically viable and employers of labour.

  • Why Gov. Alia cannot have a godfather – Gemade

    Why Gov. Alia cannot have a godfather – Gemade

    Forner National Chairman of the  Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Sen. Barnabas Gemade, said he has several reasons to support Gov. Hyacinth Alia of Benue to succeed.

    Gemade disclosed this on Wednesday in Katsina-Ala while addressing the All Progressives  Congress (APC) supporters during Alia’s thank you tour accross the state.

    Recall that Gemade, who joined the APC in 2014, contested the 2023 governorship ticket alongside the governor and many others.

    It was also recalled that after the primaries, he contested the outcome of the exercise up to the Supreme Court, calling for the cancellation of the exercise over alleged non compliance with electoral guidelines.

    The former senator however, resolved his differences with the governor much later and has since thrown his weight behind him.

    Speaking in Katsina-Ala, Gemade said the coming of Gov. Alia was truly a divine intervention.

    “The priest is a representative of God on earth, for that reason, if a priest has been assigned a responsibility he does not need a godfather. A priest that represents God here on earth has no business with another human being calling himself a godfather.

    “Father Alia can only have a father not a godfather, and I will be very happy as a bonafide son of the state and an experienced man at politics with all that it takes to be a father to anybody, I am very proud to be the father of Rev. Fr.  Alia and that is all he needs,” he said.

    He also described Alia as a humble and God-fearing priest  who is working hard to turn around the fortune of the state.

    “I used to know how people call me “Nomiyange” (a shining sun), that was when I shine, but truly, Rev. Fr. Alia came out with his sun which shines more and stronger than mine.

    “So I decided to retreat to make sure I  support him to do things that God Almighty has asked him to do, that will bring development to Benue and he is already doing those things.

    “I have only one thing to tell you the people of Sankera. There is nothing more than unity, it is one of the greatest things you must do in this state. Each time I have an opportunity to talk, I say this and  you must embrace unity and support the Alia’s administration to succeed,” Gemade said.

    NAN

  • APC suspends Gemade, others for anti-party activities

    APC suspends Gemade, others for anti-party activities

    The All Progressives Congress (APC) has suspended former Minister of Works, Sen. Barnabas Gemade from the party for alleged anti-party activities.

    Mr Austin Agada, the state APC chairman said this at a stakeholders meeting on Wednesday in Makurdi.

    Agada said the party had also suspended Prof. Terhemba Shija and some ward officials for anti-party activities, alleging that they worked against the party during the 2023 general elections.

    Gemade and Shija were governorship aspirants at the last primary election that produced Rev. Fr Hyacinth Alia as the state governorship candidate.
    He said that apart from taking the party to court, Gemade and Shija worked against the party to ensure that it lost at the poll.

    “Gemade lost his polling unit, ward and local government area to the opposition and Shija colluded with PDP against the party.

    “Shija is still in court and is working hand in hand with PDP to have Alia’s victory at the last general election quashed at the tribunal,” Agada said.

    The party chairman said that the case had been referred to the APC fact-finding committee to advance reasons why they should not be expelled from the party.

  • PDP reacts as ex-national chairman defects to APC

    PDP reacts as ex-national chairman defects to APC

    Senator Barnabas Gemade, a former National Chairman of the main opposition Peoples Democratic Party, has again decamped to the All Progressives Congress, APC.

    Gemade, who was the candidate of the SDP in the last general election has dumped the party in a low key ceremony at the weekend in his village, Gemade Village, Mbajov, Mbawar Council Ward of Konshisha Local Government Area of Benue State.

    Senator Gemade defected alongside Mr. Terngu Shawon, who served as the gubernatorial campaign Director-General of the PDP in the last election.

    Gemade dumped the APC for the SDP shortly before the 2019 general election.

    He contested for the Benue North-East senatorial district but lost to the incumbent Senator Gabriel Suswam.

    Speaking at the ceremony, the former lawmaker said he “returned to APC after due consultations with the leadership of the party at the national, state, local, and ward levels.”

    Gemade also allegedly boasted that his defection had sent panic in the camp of the ruling PDP and other political parties.

    While receiving him, Benue State Chairman of the party, Comrade Abba Yaro, expressed joy over his return

    Yaro said that Gemade as an asset to the party.

    However, the Peoples Democratic Party has ferociously responded to the statement that Gemade’s defection made the party jittery.

    According to a statement by its State Publicity Secretary, Bemgba Iortyom, the PDP described the defection of its former National Chairman from the Social Democratic Party, SDP, to the All Progressives Congress, APC, as a mere charade by a perennial political nomad.

    The PDP said it was amused by what it termed a defection charade which the party should not concern itself with.

    “However, considering Senator Gemade’s quoted statement at the decamping that his move to APC has sent jitters down the spines of PDP and other political parties in the state, it is noteworthy to state a few facts salient and relevant to the situation.

    “Firstly, underscoring the irrelevance of this charade of a decamping is the loud question; as a former National Chairman of a ruling party, former Minister and former Senator, why was the Benue State Leader of the APC, Senator George Akume, conspicuously absent at the decamping ceremony yesterday?

    “Was Senator Gemades’s diminishing political value not highlighted by his abysmally poor performance in his Senatorial re-election bid in 2019 on the platform of the SDP where he lost even in his native Mbawar and placed third in the race behind a political greenhorn like Mimi Orubibi, after he had junketed from APC to PDP and then to SDP all in the space of a few months?

    “Senator Gemade needs to be reminded that his party SDP has not won even a single councilorship seat in all elections since he joined the party in 2019. It lost in all the polls he actively participated in last year,” Iortyom stated.

    He added that Senator Gemade should also remember that “PDP won the governorship election, 3 senatorial seats out of 3, 7 House of Representatives seats of 11 and 23 Benue State House of Assembly seats out of 30. “The party also has 23 elected council chairmen out of 23 and 276 elected councillors. So why would PDP be jittery? Was Gemade a member of PDP when it emerged victorious in all of those elections?

    “It is unfortunate that while politicians of Senator Gemade’s generation, like Senator David Mark, are retiring and leaving room on the leadership stage for their proteges, the septuagenarian is still embarking on political quests suitable for his children’s generation.

    “His current voyage into the APC is most likely ill-fated, as feelers indicate his motive is to wrestle the leadership of the party in Benue from Senator Akume whom he believes lost relevance following the party’s defeat to PDP in 2019.

    “Terngu Shawon’s case is even worse, as the man, in his capacity as Director-General of the gubernatorial campaign organization of the sitting governor, failed to deliver a single polling unit in his council ward, even ran away and could not vote at his polling unit in the 2019 election. Such a man need not be taken seriously by anyone.

    “PDP, as a solidly grounded political party, will not be distracted by this mere gallivanting of nomadic politicians whose antics are well known to the electorate and won’t be taken seriously, as the party focuses on guiding and supporting the Ortom administration towards delivering on its mandate to the people of Benue State.”