The camp of Muyiwa Fatosa, a contender for the Kogi West senatorial seat, has issued a strongly worded response to the Teejay Media Team, accusing the group of dragging its principal, Hon. Teejay Yusuf, into a controversy he did not personally originate.
In a statement signed by the Muyiwa Fatosa Campaign Organisation, the group said it was compelled to react only because the Teejay Media Team’s rejoinder — ostensibly directed at an article the campaign said it neither wrote nor authorised — went further to describe Fatosa as an “opportunist” with little recognition in his own ward.
The Fatosa camp said it would ordinarily have stayed out of the exchange, noting that political commentary and scrutiny of aspirants are part of the democratic process. But it insisted that once Fatosa’s name and standing were put into question, a response became unavoidable.
While conceding that Yusuf, who has represented his constituency in the House of Representatives for 12 consecutive years, has every constitutional right to seek the Senate seat, the campaign argued that legal eligibility alone does not amount to an unassailable political claim. It said history, fairness, performance and the mood of the electorate also weigh into such contests.
Central to the statement is a push to reframe the ongoing rotation debate in Kogi West around three broad political axes — Lokoja/Koton Karfe, Kabba/Ijumu and Yagba — rather than individual local government areas. The campaign argued that this distinction is key to any honest conversation about equitable representation in the senatorial district.
The statement also took issue with the Teejay camp’s citation of past aspirants from other axes as evidence against rotation, arguing that unsuccessful candidacies should not be equated with actual representation.
Beyond the rotation question, the Fatosa campaign pressed for specifics on Yusuf’s legislative legacy, noting his tenure as Chairman of the House Committee on Capital Market and Institutions in the 8th National Assembly. It asked what landmark bills, federal projects, economic opportunities or institutional interventions could be credited to his twelve years in office, arguing that electoral victory alone does not establish legislative achievement.
Responding to the “opportunist” tag directed at its candidate, the campaign said such characterisations were unnecessary, maintaining that elections — not media statements — would determine who commands public confidence. It added that no politician holds a permanent claim to public office simply by virtue of having occupied it before.
The statement closed with a call for an issues-based contest, urging Yusuf to present his legislative record while Fatosa lays out his own credentials and programme, so that voters in Kogi West can compare both candidates on substance ahead of the polls.
The Teejay Media Team is yet to respond to the latest statement.
