- Demands Governorship Rotation to Kogi West
A member of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) media team, Dr Tom Ohikere, has warned that opposition parties will not unseat the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) in the 2027 general elections through meetings and press statements alone. He said they must build real grassroots machinery.
He also renewed his call for the Kogi governorship to move to Kogi West.
Speaking at a media interaction in Lokoja on Monday, Ohikere said the split in opposition votes among Atiku Abubakar, Peter Obi and Rabiu Kwankwaso in the 2023 presidential election gave the APC an advantage. He said the ongoing realignment within the opposition could change that equation in 2027.
He argued that the economic hardship facing Nigerians would make it hard for the ruling party to campaign effectively, and that a united opposition would leave the APC unable to survive the contest.
He cautioned, however, that unity at the top is not enough. Opposition politicians, he said, must stop relying on elite meetings in Abuja and urgently establish structures down to the wards and polling units. He noted that the APC already has such a structure, which the opposition must match.
Ohikere also criticised President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s economic reforms, particularly the removal of the fuel subsidy and the floating of the naira at the same time. He said the policies had deepened hardship for ordinary Nigerians, with little improvement in transportation, food prices, electricity, healthcare or education. He questioned why the savings reportedly accruing to the federal government had not produced visible gains in infrastructure and public services. He said the government should prioritise functioning refineries, stable power supply and lower food prices to win public confidence.
The former commissioner urged voters to base their choices in 2027 on welfare issues rather than ethnic, religious or financial inducement. He appealed to Nigerians not to sell their votes for N5,000 or back a candidate simply because of tribe, and to vote instead for affordable fuel, functioning schools and a united Kogi.
On the state’s politics, Ohikere called again for power to rotate to Kogi West in 2027, saying equity and fairness demand it. He said Kogi East has produced governors for 16 years since 1999, and Kogi Central will have done so for 12 years by 2027. Kogi West, he said, has not produced an elected governor since the state was created. He described his position as “simple arithmetic and simple justice.”
Ohikere, who is from Kogi Central, said his advocacy was not driven by personal interest but by the need to promote unity among the state’s three senatorial districts. He rejected the argument that Governor Ahmed Usman Ododo should first complete a second term. He acknowledged that the Constitution allows two terms but said political leadership also demands sacrifice for unity and posterity. He described the governor as a brother from Kogi Central who means well and said his position was nothing personal.
He warned that one senatorial district’s continuous hold on the governorship could breed resentment and weaken the principle of rotation. If Kogi Central voluntarily backed a Kogi West candidate in 2027, he said, it would demonstrate political maturity, and history would remember the zone as the one that united the state.
Ohikere is a journalist, author, public relations consultant and public affairs analyst. He has served twice as Kogi State commissioner for information under different administrations. He is the chief executive officer of TAEEIAI Media Limited and consults for political organisations across the country.
