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WHY 2027 MAY BE PDP’S EASIEST BENUE VICTORY YET

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By: Aondoakaa Tersugh Daniel | 04/06/2026

Benue State has a political record that deserves more honest attention than it usually receives. Three gubernatorial elections stand out, not because they were routine contests, but because they were fought at moments when the stakes went far beyond who would occupy the Government House in Makurdi. In 2003, the PDP faced down a strong ANPP challenge and won. In 2011, the ACN came with considerable momentum and the PDP held. In 2019, in what remains perhaps the most ideologically charged election the state had seen in years, the PDP defeated the APC under circumstances where the outcome carried a meaning that ordinary ballot arithmetic alone could not capture.

What connects those three victories is not campaign funding or party structure, at least not primarily. What connects them is something the Benue electorate appeared to understand at a gut level at each of those moments: the PDP candidate was, whether perfectly or imperfectly, standing between the state and forces that had no interest in Benue’s survival as a territorial and human reality. Voters did not simply choose a party. They chose a shield. That is a distinction worth sitting with.

The configuration going into 2027 is not new. It is, to a degree that should unsettle anyone paying attention, a near replication of the exact conditions that produced those three victories. And this is where the commentary has to be direct.

The allegation that Governor Hyacinth Iormen Alia received substantial Fulani sponsorship ahead of the 2023 election, on an informal understanding that their settlement on Benue land would be facilitated, remains unproven. No court has established it, and fairness requires that distinction to be stated plainly. But what requires no court is what has been happening in Benue communities under this administration.

Under former Governor Samuel Ortom, the herdsmen attacks were vicious and frequent, but they followed a pattern of strike and retreat. The attackers came, killed, and left. There was no lingering. Under Alia, something in the character of these attacks has changed in a way that is difficult to explain away. Communities are not merely raided anymore. They are emptied. People are not just killed. They are displaced, and then the land they fled is occupied. The attackers are staying. They are settling. And the man whose constitutional duty it is to stop all of this has stood before cameras and described what is happening as mere skirmishes, denying with apparent comfort that genocide is taking place inside his own state. That is not a political disagreement. That is a moral catastrophe delivered in a press statement.

That posture alone recreates the precise condition that pushed Benue voters toward the PDP in every previous difficult election: a leading candidate whose relationship with the enemies of Benue territory was, at the very best, one of suspicious ease.

Chief Michael Kaase Aondoakaa SAN enters this race carrying two arguments simultaneously, and both of them are strong. The first is the territorial argument just described. The second is less dramatic but equally felt by ordinary people: the Benue civil service is in a state of near collapse. The bureaucracy is paralysed and the basic machinery of governance is grinding rather than running. This political argument that does not need embellishment.

The arithmetic of Benue political history points in one direction. Every time the conditions aligned to make the PDP the obvious defender of Benue interests against external threat or internal abandonment, the PDP won. The conditions in 2027 are not merely similar to those moments. They are, in critical respects, starker. The administrative failure is not a campaign claim. It is four years of lived reality. The state’s indifference to mass killings and occupation is not a rumour. It is documented in satellite images, funeral photographs, and the testimonies of the displaced.

The PDP does not need to invent a crisis to campaign on. The crisis is already governing the state. And if the Benue pattern holds, and this particular pattern has not broken once in the three elections that mattered most, then 2027 may not be the party’s most gruelling fight. It may, quietly and almost without precedent, be its most straightforward one.

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Politics

Tinubu Assures Investors Nigeria Is Open for Business, Welcomes Coca-Cola’s $1bn Plan

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By Francis Wilfred 

President Bola Tinubu has assured local and international investors that Nigeria remains open for business, saying his administration is implementing reforms aimed at creating a more predictable, competitive and investment-friendly environment.

Speaking through the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Senator George Akume, at the 75th anniversary celebration of the Nigerian Bottling Company (NBC) in Abuja on Monday, the President said the government is addressing key challenges facing businesses under the Renewed Hope Agenda.

“Our message to investors, both Nigerian and international, is clear: Nigeria is open for business,” Tinubu said,

He noted that reliable infrastructure, efficient logistics, access to foreign exchange, stable regulations and a supportive tax system are critical to attracting investment and expanding production.

According to Yomi Odunuga, the President said ongoing economic reforms are designed to build a more productive and competitive economy, reduce dependence on imports, strengthen local manufacturing and create jobs for Nigerians.

Tinubu welcomed the Coca-Cola System’s proposed $1 billion investment in Nigeria over five years, announced in 2024, describing it as a strong vote of confidence in the country’s economy. 

He said the administration is focused not only on the volume of investment attracted but also on its impact on employment, skills development, technology transfer and local sourcing.

“We are interested not only in the amount of capital that comes into Nigeria, but in what that capital does here,” he said.

The President also praised NBC’s continued expansion of production capacity, including new production lines in Oyo and Kano states, describing such investments as vital to strengthening Nigeria’s industrial base.

He reaffirmed the government’s commitment to improving policies, infrastructure and regulations to support businesses, while urging the private sector to complement government efforts through investment, innovation and job creation.

Tinubu further highlighted the importance of human capital development, commending NBC’s Supply Chain Academy for training over 1,400 young Nigerians and supporting women’s empowerment and community development initiatives.

He urged investors to take advantage of opportunities across Nigeria, expressing confidence that the country can build a stronger economy driven by local production, exports and globally competitive industries.

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Kano  Governorship: Accord Party Governorship Candidate Gashash Getting More Endorsement From Kano Electorates.

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By Jabiru Hassan.


The movement for Democratic Protection and good governance (MDSG) declared it's full support to the Accord Party Governorship Candidate Ambassador Dr. Mukhtar Gashash in the forthcoming general elections.

In a chat with our correspondent in kano, the national president of the movement, Alhaji Dauda Mohammed Ali,  stated that it is time for the people of kano state to bring new steward who is seriously planning to transform the state with highest regard.

He expressed his confidence that Ambassador Dr Mukhtar Gashash will do his best to ensure that kano state becomes more examplary at both sector without bias which is the task previous administrators failed to achieve.

Alhaji Dauda Mohammed Ali reiterated that " this time around, our movement is working day and night to make sure that Kano people mostly youths remained Committed to actualize real change in the state's politics, leadership and transformation under the Accord Party government".

He called on the people of kano state especially the eligible voters to vote Ambassador Dr Mukhtar Gashash due to his Transformation plans for the progress of kano state and it's citizens at both Urban and rural settlements.

Responding to a question about Accord party's strength in kano state, Dauda Mohammed Ali disclosed that in today's democracy, competent candidates should be tipped for an elective positions not the popularity of the political parties stressing that Ambassador Dr Mukhtar Gashash has been found to be the best option for kano state due to his track record on competency, transparency as a real democrat.
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Caught in the middle: Ortom’s silent dance between two camps.

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There are growing questions about where Mr. Samuel Ortom, a former Governor of Benue State and a prominent figure in the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), truly stands politically ahead of 2027.

Ortom was a key figure in the divisions within the PDP before the 2023 general elections and was widely associated with support for Mr. Peter Obi, who finished third in that contest. More recently, however, he has publicly expressed support for President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s administration.

The latest discussion began after a visit by Mr. Peter Obi to Benue State. Reports indicate that a vehicle said to belong to Ortom was used to receive Obi at the Air Force Base airport in Makurdi. It is not clear who authorized the use of the vehicle, and Ortom has not commented publicly on the matter.

During the same visit, Obi was reportedly prevented from travelling to Yelewata, where he had intended to condole with families affected by violence. Obi’s team attributed the blockage to supporters of Governor Hyacinth Alia.

The Governor’s spokesman, Sir Tersoo Kula, denied any involvement by the Governor. He suggested the incident may have been staged to damage the Governor’s reputation, or that it could have resulted from disagreements within Obi’s own support base.

Ortom has not issued a statement clarifying his position on the 2027 elections or on the vehicle in question. Attempts to reach him were unsuccessful at the time of reporting.

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