- Tinubu/Ododo rally sparks fierce backlash over misplaced priorities.
The recent political gathering at the Muhammadu Buhari Civic Centre in Lokoja, organized to endorse President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and Governor Ahmed Usman Ododo ahead of the 2027 elections, has drawn widespread bewilderment and sharp criticism, primarily from the camp of Senator Sunday Karimi (Kogi West).
While the purpose of the “endorsement jamboree” was political affirmation, its outcome has become a dramatic public sparring match exposing deep fissures and questions of governance priorities in the state.
In a strongly worded statement, Senator Sunday Karimi decried the rally as “insensitive, unnecessary, and preemptive.” He questioned the rationale of compelling citizens to gather under the blazing sun for an election still over a year away, positing that true support for the President should be organic, not coerced.
“The people of Kogi State do not need to be bullied or coerced into re-electing the President,” Karimi’s team asserted.
He argued that the genuine measure of support should be seen in tangible development, urging state and local stakeholders—whose federal allocations have reportedly tripled under the current administration—to ensure the President’s goodwill “is translated to the pockets and dining tables of Kogites.”
Suppose Senator Karimi’s statement was a call for accountability. In that case, the joint response by the Chairmen of the Seven Local Government Areas of Kogi West is not merely an unfortunate remark, but the highest level of fawning sycophancy.
The Chairman’s defence of the rally is a profoundly misplaced priority. The fundamental question they must address is whether the endorsement was necessary at this crucial time for grassroots development. The charade in Lokoja was procured with resources that could be put to more productive uses.
Despite the huge allocations from the Federation account meant for the local government areas, can the Chairmen truthfully declare what eventually gets to them? What difference has the increased federal allocation made in the lives of the people?
The motive behind the Chairman’s aggressive defence is a desperate quest for tenure continuity. With their tenures in the homestretch and the keen desire for a second term, loyalty—regardless of the cost to the people—is deemed paramount.
This is why the endorsement rally, which is a “receive as you attend” event, is a joke taken too far. It is shameful that these Chairmen are prioritizing political correctness over real and tangible development.
Sadly, these Chairmen are being instructed to issue outlandish statements by leaders who themselves could not secure the senatorial seat of their Senatorial District, Kogi Central.
The unfortunate reality in Kogi West is the perennial recruitment of political actors against one another in the selfish quest for political office.
For those intoxicated with power and attempting to play God in the lives of others, let it be known that the 2027 elections will be a different ballgame, with no room for any electoral heist. The election will not be conducted by the Kogi State Independent Electoral Commission but by INEC.
The bottom line remains unchanged: The Endorsement Rally was fundamentally ill-timed and unnecessary, and the current efforts of “appointed” Local Government Chairmen focused on self-preservation cannot alter that fact.
– Ponle Adeniyi
ponleadeniyi457@gmail.com
