Barnabas Andyar Gemade

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.

He succeeded Solomon Lar, the first chairman of the party, and was elected in part due to zoning rules which favoured allotment of the post to a northerner.

In a November 2010 interview, Gemade supported the decision to allow incumbent President Goodluck Jonathan 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, Iyorchia Ayu 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.