As Kogi West demands governorship in 2028, battle over 2027 senatorial ticket exposes competing interests, succession calculations and widening political fault lines
By Rotimi Phillip
The All Progressives Congress (APC) in Kogi State is confronting a defining political moment, with the growing agitation for power rotation to Kogi West, the controversy surrounding Senator Sunday Steve Karimi’s re-election bid and the emerging confrontation between the incumbent senator and influential political interests within the Kogi State Government converging into a potentially consequential internal crisis.
Beneath the party’s public declarations of unity and loyalty to Governor Ahmed Usman Ododo lies a contest over political succession, influence, representation and the future distribution of power across the state’s three senatorial districts.
What makes the unfolding situation particularly significant is that the struggle is no longer confined to the conventional rivalry among aspirants. It is increasingly connected to the broader question of who determines the political direction of Kogi APC and whether the party can accommodate competing interests without undermining its cohesion.
At the heart of the storm are two politically sensitive contests: the 2027 Kogi West senatorial election and the 2028 governorship succession.
The Karimi factor: A Senate ticket becomes a test of political authority
The controversy surrounding Senator Karimi’s return to the Senate has become one of the most visible manifestations of the internal disagreement.
Karimi emerged from the APC senatorial primary conducted on May 18, 2026, with 51,665 votes, according to figures reported by party stakeholders. His emergence, however, did not extinguish the disagreement over the ticket, with rival interests questioning the process and supporting alternative arrangements.
A section of Kogi West APC stakeholders subsequently reaffirmed their support for Karimi, maintaining that the party’s national leadership had recognised his candidacy. Meanwhile, Hon. Samuel Bamidele Aro challenged the primary process in court.
The dispute has consequently acquired dimensions beyond an ordinary contest between political aspirants. It raises questions about the relationship between the party’s national leadership, state political structures and the autonomy of its senatorial constituency.
The central issue is whether the party can resolve its internal disagreements through recognised procedures or whether competing power centres will continue to mobilise influence around the ticket.
Power rotation: The political question APC cannot indefinitely postpone
Running parallel to the senatorial controversy is the increasingly vocal demand that the governorship should move to Kogi West in 2028.
Since the return to democratic governance in 1999, Kogi East has produced governors for approximately 17 years, while Kogi Central has occupied the position for the succeeding period. Kogi West has yet to produce a substantive elected governor.
This historical distribution has become the foundation of the equity argument advanced by advocates of rotation.
Former Commissioner for Information, Dr Tom Ohikere, has publicly called for the governorship to be zoned to Kogi West, arguing that political inclusion and fairness require the district to have an opportunity to produce the next governor.
The agitation has also featured prominently in the activities of political pressure groups, including Degroup Kogi West O’ Clock, which has called for a shift in 2027.
The September 30–October 1 Kogi Unity and Power Rotation Summit in Lokoja further exposed the divisions surrounding the issue. While proponents of the summit presented dialogue as a means of promoting unity, critics questioned its neutrality and the involvement of serving government officials.
The disagreement illustrates a fundamental political tension: whether rotation should be treated as a negotiated political convention or whether every aspirant should approach the governorship contest primarily through open competition.
The collision of two political ambitions
The intersection of the senatorial dispute and the governorship agitation is where the Kogi APC crisis assumes broader significance.
The 2027 Senate contest will determine representation for Kogi West, while the 2028 governorship succession will shape the next phase of political leadership in the state.
The two contests are separate electoral processes, but they operate within the same political environment and involve overlapping stakeholders, loyalties and interests.
Consequently, disagreements over the Senate ticket may affect relationships among political actors whose cooperation could become important in subsequent governorship negotiations.
For Governor Ododo and the APC leadership, the challenge is to manage these competing interests without allowing the party’s internal political machinery to become a battleground for unresolved succession disputes.
For Senator Karimi, the controversy concerns the preservation of his political platform and the legitimacy of his candidacy within the party.
For advocates of Kogi West governorship, the larger issue is whether the district’s longstanding demand for political inclusion will translate into an agreed pathway to power.
These interests do not automatically constitute a coordinated confrontation, but their convergence has created an increasingly complicated political landscape.
The danger of an internal implosion
The greatest risk to APC may not necessarily arise from the existence of competing ambitions, which are normal in a democratic political party, but from the inability of its leadership to establish an acceptable mechanism for managing them.
A party can accommodate disagreements over candidates, zoning and political succession. What becomes more difficult to manage is a situation in which rival factions question the legitimacy of decisions, distrust the reconciliation process or regard political negotiations as instruments for imposing predetermined outcomes.
The continuing controversy over the Kogi West senatorial ticket demonstrates the importance of transparent dispute resolution.
Similarly, the power rotation debate requires a process that acknowledges the concerns of all three senatorial districts while respecting constitutional provisions and the rights of eligible citizens to contest elections.
Without such an approach, the party risks carrying unresolved grievances from one election cycle into another.
Beyond personalities: The battle for Kogi APC’s political future
The emerging crisis is therefore larger than a disagreement between Senator Karimi and political interests associated with the state government.
It is a contest over the character of political leadership, the management of succession and the balance between institutional party decisions and stakeholder influence.
The critical question confronting APC is whether its leaders can transform the present disagreements into an opportunity for political accommodation or allow them to deepen into enduring factional divisions.
For Kogi West, the coming months will test the relationship between its senatorial representation and its aspiration for the governorship.
For the APC, the challenge is to demonstrate that internal competition does not have to become political disintegration.
Ultimately, the party’s ability to manage the Karimi controversy and the power rotation debate may shape not only its immediate electoral preparations but also the credibility of its internal democratic processes.
The storm gathering within Kogi APC is no longer merely about who gets the ticket or which district produces the next governor. It is increasingly about who controls the party’s political future, how power is negotiated and whether the competing interests within its ranks can coexist under a common political platform.
– Rotimi Phillip writes from Lokoja.
