PDP's 2027 Benue governorship candidate Michael Aondoakaa pledges stronger enforcement of the Open Grazing Prohibition Law and greater support for traditional rulers, speaking alongside Samuel Ortom at Agasha.
Agasha, Guma LGA, Benue State — September 2026
The 2027 Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) governorship candidate in Benue State, Chief Michael Aondoakaa, SAN, has pledged to strengthen and reinvigorate enforcement of the state's Open Grazing Prohibition and Ranches Establishment Law if elected governor.
Aondoakaa made the pledge at Agasha, Guma Local Government Area, where he joined former Governor and PDP leader Chief Samuel Ortom, as Ortom formally presented his wife and PDP Senatorial Candidate for Benue North-West, Dr. Eunice Ortom, to his Nongov kinsmen.
Aondoakaa said protecting Benue's land and the safety of its people would remain central to his administration, stressing the need for effective enforcement of the anti-open-grazing law enacted under the Ortom administration.
He pledged that his government would not only sustain the law but strengthen its implementation to protect farmers, communities, and the state's territorial integrity, a commitment that lands squarely within Benue's ongoing standoff with the Federal Government over its proposed national ranching pilot.
Beyond land protection, Aondoakaa promised to restore the dignity and recognition of Benue's traditional institutions, singling out the state's traditional tax collectors, known as Tor Kpande, for improved welfare and a strengthened grassroots governance role.
He acknowledged the contributions of traditional leaders to peacebuilding, cultural preservation, resolution of communal disputes, and community mobilisation for development, arguing that "traditional rulers deserved greater institutional support because of their strategic position in maintaining stability and promoting development at the grassroots."
The PDP candidate commended the Nongov people for their sustained support of Ortom and his family over the years, urging them to maintain that solidarity ahead of the 2027 elections. He appealed directly to the Nongov and wider Guma community to back Dr. Eunice Ortom for the Benue North-West Senatorial District, himself for the governorship, and other PDP candidates on the ballot.
The joint appearance with Samuel Ortom underscores the PDP's continued effort to project a united front in Benue ahead of 2027, pairing Aondoakaa's gubernatorial ambitions with the Ortom family's enduring political base in Guma.
His anti-open-grazing pledge also positions him firmly within the wide coalition of Benue clergy, civil society, and professional groups that have spent recent weeks rejecting the Federal Government's ranching pilot, setting up land rights as a defining issue of the state's next election cycle.
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