Community leader and Kogi West development advocate, Otunba Adeniyi Olayemi (So’Mi Edumare), has congratulated Senator Sunday Karimi following the Independent National Electoral Commission’s (INEC) acknowledgement of his candidacy as the All Progressives Congress (APC) senatorial flag bearer for Kogi West in the 2027 general election.
In a statement issued on Wednesday, Olayemi described the confirmation as “a victory for due process, democratic engagement, and the collective aspiration of our people for purposeful representation.”
The endorsement comes weeks after a bruising primary dispute within the Kogi West APC, in which rival camps loyal to Senator Karimi and his closest challenger, Otunba Samuel Bamidele Aro, each laid claim to victory in the May 18, 2026 senatorial primary. The disagreement drew in APC stakeholders’ forums, elders’ groups, and local government chairmen on both sides before the party’s national leadership affirmed Karimi as the authentic candidate, a decision the APC has since reflected by uploading his name to the INEC nomination portal.
A Call for Unity
Addressing the Aro camp directly, Olayemi praised his rival’s conduct during the contest, saying, “Political contest is a test of ideas, not enmity.” He urged Aro to accept the outcome “in good faith and in the larger interest of our district,” while reassuring the Aro family and their supporters that “your voice matters, your sacrifice is not in vain, and Kogi West still needs your leadership, your experience, and your energy at the table of development.”
Olayemi also called on Karimi and his supporters to reciprocate with gestures of fellowship, noting that “a united Kogi West is a stronger Kogi West” and that development in the district “must be bigger than any individual ambition.”
Continuity Argument for 2027
Olayemi framed Karimi’s re-election bid as a matter of political continuity, arguing that the senator’s standing in the National Assembly and his relationships at the federal level position Kogi West to benefit from “greater federal presence, more developmental projects, and better opportunities for our youths and communities” in a second term.
He extended this continuity argument to the national stage, urging Nigerians to weigh the record of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s first term, which he said has already produced measurable results at the community level, and to back a second term to consolidate those gains.
Olayemi closed his statement with an appeal for collective action: “For the good of Kogi West, let us build together.”
The statement is the latest in a series of public interventions from Kogi West political and community figures since the disputed primary, several of which have similarly urged the district’s APC factions to reconcile ahead of the January 2027 general election.
