Okun Leaders League (OLL) has called on traditional rulers from the zone to resist consenting to any arrangement calculated to hoodwink, cajole and undermine the collective intelligence of the Yoruba speaking people of Kogi state.
In a statement signed by representatives of the six local governments and made available to newsmen in Lokoja on Saturday, OLL said much as the royal fathers are appointees of the state government, they are primarily custodians of Okun customs and traditions who are expected to be totally non-partisan and apolitical.
The statement said the call was in view of a visit to Kabba by Governor Ahmed Usman Ododo for a political meeting with traditional rulers of Okun land to persuade them to jettison the gubernatorial dream of Okun people in 2027.
“Okun traditional rulers must reject anything and everything that will set them up against their people, irrespective of the level of material inducement or intimidation which has characterised godfather politics in Kogi State within the past decade.
“It has come to the attention of the Okun Leaders League, (OLL), that a meeting has reportedly been scheduled between the Kogi State Governor, Ahmed Ododo and the Okun Traditional Council, for Friday October 31, 2025. The said meeting which is purported for Kabba, headquarters of Kabba-Bunu council area, is intended to seek the endorsement of the Okun traditional institution for a second term for Ododo, come 2027.
“Information at the disposal of OLL suggests that Okunland will be baited with the position of Deputy Governor on the Ododo ticket for the 2027 gubernatorial poll. The aim is to effectively extinguish the aspirations of the good people of Okunland for the governorship office which has serially eluded them in the 34 year history of Kogi State, but more currently since the beginning of the Fourth Republic 26 years ago.
“To refresh our collective memories, by 2027, the Igala ethnicity in Kogi East would have held the office of Kogi State Governor for 16 years post-1999, while the Ebiras would have held the same position for 12 years. History reminds us that in the Second Republic in the old Kwara State, Alhaji Adamu Atta from Ebiraland served as Governor for four years between 1979 and 1983. In Nigeria’s Third Republic, Prince Abubakar Audu served as Kogi State Governor for two years. When these figures are added, it sums up that while the Igala ethnic group has held the office of Governor for 18 years, the Ebiras would have occupied the same office for 16 years by 2027.
“In this curious leadership statistics in Kogi State, the Okun nationality which is supposed to be the third leg of the sociopolitical tripod in Kogi State, has been utterly relegated in the governance scheme. On two occasions between 1992 and 1993, and between 2012 and 2016, Okun sons have served as Deputy Governor of Kogi State. In Nigeria’s political system, we know too well that deputies are nothing but dispensable “spare tyres” who breathe and function at the sole discretion of their principals. They are toothless, powerless and incapable of bringing home the dividends of growth and progress which we all crave in a democracy,” the statement read.
Okun Leaders League warned that any individual or group of individuals who accept any denigrating office for self gratification, purportedly on behalf of the Okun nation straddling Lokoja, Kabba-Bunu, Ijumu, Mopamuro, Yagba East and Yagba West, does so at his or her own peril.
