Kogi West Elders Assembly (KWEA) has expressed appreciation to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu on the appointment of one of Nigeria’s best diplomat-bureaucrats, Ambassador Olusola Enikanolaiye, from Okunland as Minister of State for Foreign Affairs.
In a statement jointly signed by Mallam Mustapha Ohinoyi (Kogi/Kotonkarfe Federal Constituency, Prof David Ikupeleye (Kabba-Bunu/Ijumu Federal Constituency) and Dr Segun Ehinlafa (Yagba Federal Constituency), the elders noted that since the conclusion of the administration of President Olusegun Obasanjo in 2007, nearly 20 years ago, Okunland, which encompasses six out of the seven local government areas in Kogi West senatorial zone, has been serially overlooked in the appointment of Ministers until now.
“President Tinubu has just reaffirmed his faith in the human resource abundance available in our parts to help power national development,” the elders stated.
KWEA, however, drew the President’s attention to cracks with the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) in the state following the move to impose of one of the aspirants eyeing the party’s sole ticket for Kogi West senate seat as consensus candidate.
“The attention of KWEA, has been drawn to a press statement released today, Monday May 11, 2026, after a purported meeting held at the residence of Jerry Omodara, a retired naval lieutenant commander, who is the Kogi State Security Adviser, in Lokoja, the Kogi State capital. Also said to have been present were operatives and loyalists of the governor of the state, Ahmed Usman Ododo, including commissioners, special advisers and political hirelings from Kogi West.
“The said meeting reportedly endorsed Samuel Bamidele Aro, a one-term Member of the House of Representatives in the Sixth Assembly with no memorable performance record, who represented Yagba federal constituency, between 2007 and 2011, as the preferred candidate of the state government to fly the flag of the All Progressives Congress, (APC), at the 2027 general elections.
“Sunday Steve Karimi, a two-term Member of the House of Representatives, the humble, personable, hardworking and generally loved incumbent Senator, according to the proceedings of the meeting, has incurred the wrath of Governor Ododo, for daring to canvas power shift to Kogi West, at a time Ododo is desperate for a second term.
“Since Karimi drew public attention late last year, to the imminence of the 35th anniversary of the creation of Kogi State, come August 27, 2026, and the continuing exclusion of Kogi West from the steering wheel of state administration, there has been no love lost between him and the state government,” the statement read.
The elders recall an exercise which purportedly passed ‘vote of no confidence’ in Karimi that was orchestrated in Kabba, the political headquarters of Kogi West, last March.
“This was promptly countered by meetings and mini-rallies across the seven local government areas in Kogi West, reaffirming the faith of Kogi West district in the stewardship of Senator Sunday Karimi.”
KWEA said it is well aware that members of the APC who participated in the recent e-registration exercise of the party have had their membership cards withheld by the leadership of the APC in Kogi State, on the instructions of the state government, to be weaponized against Karimi at the forthcoming senatorial primary.
“The cards are alleged to have been so warehoused to be deployed to rig the primaries against Karimi and other contestants deemed not to be groveling before the Ododo camp.
“This runs against the desire and directives of the national headquarters of the APC, for free, fair and inclusive participation in the political process to consolidate support for the party at all levels. Mr President went through a free and fair primary in 2022, ahead of his victory in the general elections in 2023. Let it be known that the depth of discord, division and disaffection in the APC in Kogi State today is recipe for failure.
“Senator Sunday Karimi has served the people of Kogi West very conscientiously, humanely and impactfully, in his first three years in the upper legislature. Aside his far-reaching interventions in security, education, empowerment and philanthropy, the resumption of construction work on the Abuja-Lokoja highway, and the Kabba-Isanlu-Egbe-Ilorin road, which are at the heart of seamless movement and the socioeconomic heart of Kogi State and Kogi West, derive substantially from his restless tenacity.
“KWEA notes that it is utterly offensive and roundly disrespectful for a handful of government lackeys to arrogate to themselves, the right to determine their representatives, especially when they have implicit, undiluted confidence in the incumbent.”
The elders urged President Tinubu to wade into prevailing political disjointedness in the APC family in Kogi West, and warned that any attempt to influence the outcome of the forthcoming APC senatorial primary should be regarded as potentially costly and disastrous for the party in Kogi West.
