Barnabas Gemade
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Barnabas Andyar Iyorhyer Gemade (born 4 September 1948) is a Nigerian politician who was former national chairman of the People's Democratic Party (PDP) and former senator.


Early career

Born on 4 September 1948 in Benue State, Gemade is a chief from the Tiv ethnic group. He holds a Tiv traditional title of ''Nom-I-Yange-I-Tiv''. Gemade was the chief executive officer of the Benue Cement Company (BCC) from 1985 to 1992. He was a member of the 1994/1995 Constitutional Conference during the military regime of General
Sani Abacha Sani Abacha (; (20 September 1943 – 8 June 1998) was a Nigerian military dictator and statesman who ruled Nigeria with an iron fist as military head of state from 1993 following a palace coup d'état until his death in 1998. Abacha's seiz ...
. He has held the positions of Secretary (Minister) of Works and National Chairman of the Congress of National Consensus party, which was one of the parties sponsored by then-military dictator, General
Sani Abacha Sani Abacha (; (20 September 1943 – 8 June 1998) was a Nigerian military dictator and statesman who ruled Nigeria with an iron fist as military head of state from 1993 following a palace coup d'état until his death in 1998. Abacha's seiz ...
.


PDP chief

In the first national convention of the PDP after the April 1999 general elections, Gemade was elected National chairman after a tough competition with one of the party founders, Chief
Sunday Awoniyi Chief Sunday Bolorunduro Awoniyi (; 30 April 1932 – 28 November 2007) was a Nigerian politician and tribal aristocrat. He was the ''Aro'' of Mopa, Kogi State, formerly Kabba Province. Popularly called ''sardauna", Awoniyi was a founding mem ...
. He succeeded
Solomon Lar Chief (Dr.) Solomon Daushep Lar (4 April 1933 – 9 October 2013) (Walin Langtang) was a Nigerian politician who has held various offices at the National level for over 50 years. He was a member of the first national parliament when Nigeria gaine ...
, the first chairman of the party, and was elected in part due to zoning rules which favoured allotment of the post to a northerner. Gemade initially had the backing of President
Olusegun Obasanjo Chief Olusegun Matthew Okikiola Ogunboye Aremu Obasanjo (; ; born 5 March 1937) is a Nigerian former army general, politician and statesman who served as Nigeria's head of state from 1976 to 1979 and later as its president from 1999 to 200 ...
. However, before the 2001 National Convention held on 9 and 10 November, he was facing strong opposition from powerful interests in the party. When he contested for a second term with Dr.
Okwesilieze Nwodo Okwesilieze Nwodo (Okwy) (born 28 July 1950 in Nsukka, Nigeria) is a Nigerian politician who was elected Governor of Enugu State in January 1992 during the Third Nigerian Republic. Later he became the national secretary, national chairman, an ...
as secretary, the two lost out to chief
Audu Ogbeh Audu Innocent Ogbeh (; born 28 July 1947) is a Nigerian farmer, playwright and politician who served as the minister of agriculture and rural development from 2015 to 2019. He was chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) from 2001 until J ...
who became chairman and Vincent Ogbulafor who became secretary. In the 2003 PDP presidential primaries, Gemade lost to former president
Olusegun Obasanjo Chief Olusegun Matthew Okikiola Ogunboye Aremu Obasanjo (; ; born 5 March 1937) is a Nigerian former army general, politician and statesman who served as Nigeria's head of state from 1976 to 1979 and later as its president from 1999 to 200 ...
, who went on to be re-elected. In April 2003, he was expelled from the PDP on account of alleged anti-party activities. However, it was generally suspected that the main reason was that he had supported the candidate of the United Nigeria Peoples Party (UNPP) rather than the PDP candidate, Chief
George Akume George Akume (; born 27 December 1953) is a Nigerian politician who is the 21st and current Secretary to the Government of the Federation. He served as Minister of Special Duties and Inter-Governmental Affairs from 2019 to 2023, during the admi ...
. Later he was readmitted to the party and became a member of its board of trustees. In a January 2011 interview, he described the turbulence in the leadership of the PDP in the early years as healthy, showing competition between individuals rather than a power-sharing arrangement between the different groups. In a November 2010 interview, Gemade supported the decision to allow incumbent President
Goodluck Jonathan Goodluck Ebele Azikiwe Jonathan (born 20 November 1957) is a Nigerian politician who served as the president of Nigeria from 2010 to 2015. He lost the 2015 presidential election to former military head of state General Muhammadu Buhari and ...
to run for election, despite the fact that some felt zoning rules meant the candidature should go to a northerner. He disputed that Jonathan's candidature could lead to the breakup of the country, and noted as a member of a minority ethnic group in the north that the minority groups had always been strong supporters of national unity.


Senator

Gemade was a strong supporter of Joseph Akaagerger when he was elected Senator for Benue North East in 2007. In the April 2011 elections, he decided to challenge Akaagerger for the Senate seat. Several incidents occurred in Benue in run-up to the election, culminating in the shooting of General Lawrence Onoja. Gemade was among leaders questioned about the violence by the State Security Services in March 2011. Others questioned included
George Akume George Akume (; born 27 December 1953) is a Nigerian politician who is the 21st and current Secretary to the Government of the Federation. He served as Minister of Special Duties and Inter-Governmental Affairs from 2019 to 2023, during the admi ...
,
Iyorchia Ayu Iyorchia Ayu (born 15 November 1952) is a Nigerian politician; he is the current chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) National Working Committee. A former Nigerian senator, he served as the 5th president of the Nigerian Senate in the ...
and Daniel Saror. In the 9 April 2011 elections for Senator of Benue North East, Gemade ran on the PDP platform and won against his primary opponent, Akaagerger, who had moved to the
Action Congress of Nigeria The Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), formerly known as Action Congress (AC), was a Nigerian political party formed via the merger from the coming together of a faction of Alliance for Democracy, the Justice Party, the Advance Congress of D ...
.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gemade, Barnabas Andyar 1948 births Living people People from Benue State Peoples Democratic Party members of the Senate (Nigeria) Senators of the 8th National Assembly (Nigeria) Senators of the 7th National Assembly (Nigeria) National Working Committee chairs Tiv people