2027: Why we walked out Of Kogi East-West alliance meeting — chieftain

By Florence Kalu

A political chieftain from Kogi-West has explained why members of the senatorial district’s delegation walked out of a meeting convened to explore a possible alliance between Kogi-East and Kogi-West ahead of the 2027 governorship election.

The chieftain, who spoke exclusively with Daily Independent on condition of anonymity because he was not authorised to speak publicly on the matter, alleged that the proposals presented by the Kogi-East delegation were designed to make Kogi-West support an arrangement that would ultimately favour the East.

He described the meeting as a “cunning contraption” and said the delegation from Kogi-West could not accept what he characterised as an unequal power-sharing arrangement.

According to him, the proposals placed Kogi-West at a disadvantage while presenting the alliance as a strategy to wrest power from Kogi-Central.

“I must say that we were disappointed. The Kogi-East delegation put forward strategies that seemed to rate us very low,” he said.

“I think they completely underrated us. They put forward many proposals to take power from Kogi-Central, but all those proposals will eventually land the governorship in the East and tie our hands to the back. For us, this is unacceptable and we wouldn’t have accepted it.”

The chieftain said Kogi-West’s reservations were rooted partly in its previous experience in governorship politics, recalling the 1999 election when, according to him, the district secured the governorship ticket of a major political party but lost the election to a candidate from Kogi-East.

“It’s not only the Central that has deprived us of the governorship seat. In 1999, the most popular party in Nigeria at the time gave us the governorship ticket. But Kogi-East fielded their son on the platform of the then APP and defeated our son,” he said.

He argued that any alliance intended to work ahead of 2027 must recognise Kogi-West’s own governorship ambition rather than use the district merely as a vehicle to dislodge the incumbent administration.

“If the proposed alliance must work, Kogi-East needs to take a step back and reconsider their determination to use us to take power from our closest neighbour,” he said.

The chieftain further argued that Kogi-West had demonstrated political flexibility in the 2023 governorship election, when it supported the emergence of a candidate from Kogi-Central.

He said that experience had reinforced the view among some stakeholders in the district that any future political arrangement must provide a clear path to the governorship for Kogi-West.

“In 2023, the incumbent won because the West worked with the Central. The West didn’t vote for their sons. They deliberately voted for a candidate from the Central with the hope of taking power from him after his tenure. It’s a norm in Nigeria. Anyone who does a first term will want to do a second term,” he said.

“The options before us would be to support whoever has five years to go or wait till eternity if we’re giving it to the East. With the way the delegation of Kogi-East behaved at the meeting, they only want to take power and then ensure that no one is able to take it from them again.

“We cannot be trapped in such a selfish arrangement.”

The chieftain also rejected suggestions that the Kogi-West delegation was acting on behalf of another political bloc, insisting that the district’s interest remained its primary consideration.

“It was an insult for them to begin to call us supporters of anyone after we rejected the slavery they’re proposing. We’re supporters of Kogi-West. We want the governorship, but we won’t go into the market blind,” he said.

He maintained that Kogi-West would not accept any alliance that did not give the district a clear opportunity to produce the governor.

“We reject any proposal that won’t give us the governorship ticket first and we won’t be bullied by any ethnic group. If Kogi-East is genuine, they should step down and allow Kogi-West to have it in 2027,” he said.

The political stalwart also questioned the motivation behind the renewed overtures from Kogi-East, alleging that the district had initially pursued an independent path in 2023 before seeking alliances after the outcome of that election.

“Kogi-East wasn’t happy to have lost power and now they’re desperately trying to seize power. They thought they could go it alone in 2023. But after realising no single ethnic group can produce the governorship alone, they’re now coming to us,” he alleged.

He nevertheless said Kogi-West remained open to discussions with other political interests, including Kogi-Central, provided such engagements were based on mutually acceptable terms.

“We’re open to discussing with everyone to find a solution. We’re interested in the governorship, but we don’t want to be deceived,” he said.

“Kogi-East has proven with the model presented at our meeting that they’re not sincere with us. They only wanted to walk us into a dark room to arm-twist us.”

Political consultations and realignments are expected to intensify across Kogi State as stakeholders position themselves ahead of the 2027 governorship election.

The contest is likely to bring renewed attention to the longstanding debate over zoning, rotation and power-sharing among Kogi’s three senatorial districts.

The 2023 governorship election featured Ahmed Usman Ododo of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Dino Melaye of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and Murtala Ajaka of the Social Democratic Party (SDP), among other candidates. INEC’s official records list the candidates and provide polling-unit-level results for the November 11, 2023 election. (INEC IREV)

Against that backdrop, political actors in Kogi-West have continued to debate whether the district should pursue the governorship directly in 2027, support another arrangement, or enter into an alliance with another senatorial district.

For the unnamed Kogi-West chieftain, however, any prospective alliance must clearly protect the district’s governorship ambition.

“Our interest is Kogi-West. We are ready to discuss with everybody, but we will not enter into any arrangement that will permanently shut us out of the governorship,” he said.