A Kogi political pressure group, the Movement for the Emancipation of Kogi State (MEKSTA), has cautioned traditional rulers in Okunland against allowing their stools to be drawn into what it described as government-backed scheme to sow political discord ahead of the 2027 general elections.
In a statement issued by nine signatories representing the state’s federal constituencies, MEKSTA alleged that Kogi State Governor Ahmed Ododo had convened a meeting of traditional rulers from the six Okun-speaking local government areas, scheduled for Thursday and Friday, June 25 and 26, 2026, in the state capital, Lokoja.
According to the group, a first class monarch had been asked to mobilise fellow royals for the meeting, where the government would reportedly circulate a video in which chiefs from Egbe in Yagba West levelled allegations against Senator Sunday Steve Karimi, who represents Kogi West.
MEKSTA framed the move as the latest in a series of attempts by the government to undercut Karimi’s standing in the district. The group pointed to Samuel Bamidele Aro, also of Yagba West, whom it said had withdrawn his senatorial ambition in writing ahead of the May 18, 2026 primary and pledged support for Karimi, only to later be implicated in alleged forgery of results from a primary he did not contest.
The statement urged Okun royals to emulate the Ohinoyi of Ebiraland, Alhaji Ahmed Tijani Anaje, whom it credited with rebuffing a politician’s request for partisan backing on the grounds that traditional rulers owe impartial fatherhood to all their subjects, not loyalty to a faction.
“MEKSTA is dismayed that rather than consciously wield the people of Kogi West together against the backdrop of prevailing fear and despair arising from the nefarious activities of bandits, kidnappers and murderers, and inspire confidence and hope in them, the state government continues to pursue needless diversion and division. After the visit of Governor Ododo to Kabba-Bunu council area following the recent attempted mass kidnapping of students and teachers, Yagba West has been traumatised in what has been normalised as a pattern. At a time like this, the people need the empathy of the state and the rekindling of their confidence to keep them through the trying times, and not the wilful orchestration of discord and disunity amongst them,” the statement read.
The group restated its backing for Karimi, citing his three years of representation and a senatorial primary in which it said more than 51,000 APC members across the 85 wards of Kogi West turned out to renew his mandate. It described any attempt to dislodge him as a threat to the APC’s standing in the zone and, by extension, the Okun-Yoruba bloc’s relationship with President Bola Tinubu.
The statement was signed by: Hon. Obafemi Medaiyese (Yagba Federal Constituency), Comrade Joseph Mebatonije (Kabba-Bunu/Ijumu Federal Constituency), Alhaji Yusuf Kpareke (Lokoja/Kotonkarfe Federal Constituency), Mallam Jimoh Ozovehe (Adavi/Okehi Federal Constituency), Dr. Nurudeen Adaviriku (Okene/Ogori-Magongo), Alhaji Isiaka Momoh (Ajaokuta Federal Constituency), Chief Ojonimi Adegbe (Idah/Igalamela-Odolu/Ofu/Ibaji Federal Constituency), Pastor Mark Onucheyo (Dekina/Bassa Federal Constituency), and Bishop Husseini Saidu (Ankpa/Omala/Olamaboro Federal Constituency).
