Benue PDP rejects the FG's proposed grazing reserves under the National Ranching Policy, calling it "Ruga through the back door," and demands Governor Alia disclose any agreement with the FG.
Makurdi — August 14, 2026
The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Benue State has rejected the Federal Government's reported plan to reintroduce grazing reserves as part of its National Ranching Policy, insisting flatly that there is no available land in the state for such settlements.
The party also directly challenged Governor Hyacinth Alia to publicly clarify whether his administration has consented to Benue's inclusion in the programme, and to disclose the details of any discussions or agreements reached with the Federal Government on the matter.
State PDP Publicity Secretary, Bright Antyo, described the reported plan as an attempt to reintroduce previously rejected policies, such as Ruga settlements and cattle colonies, under the more palatable language of "modern ranching." He said the party would not accept such policies being reintroduced covertly.
According to Antyo, the PDP supports genuine livestock development and modern ranching, but only where livestock owners lawfully acquire land and establish ranches as private ventures, in the same way farmers acquire land for agriculture.
He said the party would resist any arrangement in which government converts community or farmland into grazing reserves or settlements benefiting a specific group, stressing that Benue's predominantly agrarian population depends heavily on its land for survival.
Antyo also invoked former Governor Samuel Ortom's long-standing position that Benue's population density and agricultural realities had rendered the old grazing-reserve model obsolete, arguing that private ranching remains the only modern, sustainable path for livestock production in the state.
The party raised specific concern over reported moves by the Alia administration to repeal or significantly weaken the Benue State Open Grazing Prohibition and Ranches Establishment Law of 2017, legislation the PDP noted was enacted only after extensive consultation and years of bloodshed tied to farmer-herder conflict.
Antyo pressed Alia to explain why his administration would consider weakening that law at the very moment the Federal Government is reportedly reopening the door to grazing reserves, demanding specifics on where any proposed reserves would be sited, how much land would be involved, who would supply it, who would benefit, and whether affected communities have been consulted.
The PDP called on the Federal Government to first guarantee the safe return of thousands of displaced Benue farmers to their ancestral communities before considering any policy that could add further pressure on the state's agricultural land, arguing that Benue has already endured enough loss through killings, abandoned farms, and years of displacement.
The party also argued that a federal policy pronouncement cannot override valid state law in a federal system of government, and demanded full disclosure from the Alia administration on any commitments made regarding the ranching policy.
Summarizing its position, the PDP said it supports privately owned ranches established through lawful land acquisition, but opposes government-created grazing reserves, the allocation of community land to livestock settlements, and what it called the back-door revival of previously rejected policies.
Antyo closed by urging the governor to choose between the interests of Benue's people and a policy the party says threatens their land, livelihood, and security: "The Governor must speak. And he must speak now."
The PDP's rejection follows a similar statement from the Nigeria Catholic Diocesan Priests Association in Makurdi Diocese a day earlier, which also opposed Benue's inclusion in the ranching pilot on land-rights grounds, signalling swift and broad-based resistance to the policy from both political and religious quarters within the state, just days after the Federal Government named Benue among the pilot states.
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