By Musa Bakare
As Kogi State approaches 2027, one issue towers above all calculations, permutations, and backroom arrangements: the continued exclusion of Kogi West from the governorship since the state’s creation in 1991. This is no longer a matter of persuasion. It is a matter of decision.
For 34 years, Kogi West has paid its dues numerically, electorally, economically, and politically. The district has delivered votes, stabilised governments, and sustained party structures across successive administrations. Yet, whenever power is shared, the West is told to wait. What were once described as temporary and expedient excuses have solidified into permanent denial.
The record is indisputable. Kogi East and Kogi Central have each occupied the governorship, completed full tenures of up to sixteen years. Kogi West has had none. This imbalance is no longer defensible, and no internal arrangement can credibly justify it.
Let no compromised voice in Kogi West pretend otherwise: 2027 is the final reasonable window to correct this injustice peacefully. Any attempt to postpone it further through fabricated agreements, manufactured narratives, or elite conspiracies will be recognised for what it is: a deliberate and coordinated exclusion.
This is where internal negotiation must begin and end. Political parties, power brokers, and traditional authorities must understand that Kogi West is no longer negotiating from patience, but from a position of entitlement, anchored in history, equity, and numbers.
The Kogi West position is simple and non-negotiable:
No more symbolic inclusion.
No more deputy positions or token appointments as consolation.
No more rotational theories that never rotate.
No more candidates imposed without the consent of the people.
What is being demanded is not dominance, but balance. Not revenge, but correction. Not conflict, but closure.
Those who believe this issue can be managed through silence, boastful intimidation, or delay are misreading the moment. Grievances left unresolved do not disappear; they reorganise. Political energy denied expression does not die; it seeks alternative channels. Stability in Kogi cannot be sustained by exclusion disguised as strategy.
This call is not directed against our brothers and sisters in Kogi East or Kogi Central. It is directed against the structure of injustice that has defined power distribution in the state. A voluntary and negotiated recognition of Kogi West’s rightful claim to the governorship in 2027 will strengthen all parties, deepen governmental legitimacy, and reduce post election tensions.
For the people of Kogi West, the task is clear: unity, coordination, and disciplined mass mobilisation. This is not the season for fragmentation or personal ambition. Any betrayal from within Kogi West of this collective cause will be judged harshly by history.
2027 will not be business as usual. The question before Kogi is no longer whether the Kogi West demand is valid, it is. The only remaining question is whether it will be resolved through honourable negotiation or compelled by inevitable political pressure.
– Musa Asiru Bakare
Foundational APC Member | Political Analyst
Lokoja, Kogi State.
