By Musa Bakare
Politics is ultimately not a contest of noise but a contest of legitimacy. In every democracy, the ballot is superior to the microphone, and the will expressed through a duly conducted party primary carries greater moral authority than the loudest press conference.
Those who seek to rewrite political history with headlines after the contest has ended resemble men winking in the dark, convinced they are making an impression when, in reality, no one can see them.
Political theatre cannot invalidate a democratic mandate.
The emergence of Senator Sunday Steve Karimi as the APC candidate for Kogi West Senatorial District in the 2026 APC primary election is, from the perspective of the people of the District, the outcome of the party’s internal democratic process.
If party members participated in that process and accepted its rules beforehand, attempting to delegitimize its outcome only after the result is known raises serious questions about consistency and commitment to party discipline.
Democracy is sustained by principles, not convenience. One cannot celebrate the rules when they appear favourable and reject them when they produce an unwelcome outcome to them.
Loyalty to a political party is measured not by attendance at press conferences but by fidelity to its constitution, institutions, and democratic procedures.
History teaches that genuine leadership derives its strength from the confidence of the people, not from orchestrated outrage.
Political mandates are earned through organization, persuasion, and participation, not through public performances designed to substitute emotion for evidence.
The Kogi West Senatorial District supporters of Senator Karimi believe his legislative record, constituency engagement, and representation provide the basis on which he should seek another mandate.
In a democracy, the appropriate response to disagreement is to persuade voters, not to undermine confidence in established processes.
Kogi West deserves a politics of ideas rather than a politics of perpetual agitation. The district deserves leaders who build bridges instead of widening divisions, who strengthen the APC rather than weaken it through avoidable internal conflicts.
Those genuinely committed to the progress of the party should channel their energies toward unity, grassroots mobilization, and electoral victory instead of narratives that risk distracting from the APC’s broader objectives.
Democracy rewards those who organize, not merely those who complain.
The people of Kogi West remain the ultimate custodians of political legitimacy. No press conference, however dramatic, can replace the sovereign voice of party members and, ultimately, the electorate. In the end, history remembers those who respected democratic processes far more kindly than those who attempted to overshadow them with rhetoric.
Politics is transient; principles endure. Personal ambitions fade; institutions remain.
The APC in Kogi West will be stronger when its members rally around lawful outcomes, mutual respect, and the collective mission of serving the people.
Those who continue to wage political battles after the democratic process has spoken may generate headlines for a day, but they cannot in any way silence the verdict of a people determined to chart their own political destiny.
In democracy, legitimacy is not manufactured, it is earned. And no amount of counterfeiting can ever equal the value of the genuine article.
– Musa Asiru Bakare, a Founding Member of APC and Political Analyst, writes from Lokoja, Kogi State.
