A state is judged by who it invites to the table. In Kogi, that table has been set unevenly for a decade, and the unevenness did not end with the change of governor. It was inherited.
Consider the arithmetic first. In KEA’s analysis of 40 agencies, commissions and parastatals, 31 are headed by members of one ethnic group, the Ebira. That is 77.5 per cent. Of those 31, 27 hail from a single local government area, Okene. The Okun people head three of the 40 agencies, 7.5 per cent. The Igala, long the largest bloc in the state, head one, 2.5 per cent. All other communities, including Bassa and Lokoja/Koto, share the remaining five, 12.5 per cent. Kogi Central holds about 20 per cent of registered voters. Kogi East holds about 45 per cent. No definition of fairness stretches that far.
How we got here is not a mystery. Yahaya Bello, an Okene man, governed for eight years. His successor, Governor Ahmed Usman Ododo, is also from Okene, and was Bello’s Auditor-General for Local Governments. On 27 January 2024, within minutes of taking the oath, Ododo named cabinet nominees, and Leadership and other outlets reported that nine of the 16 commissioners came straight from Bello’s cabinet. The Secretary to the State Government, who served Bello for eight years, was retained. Ali Bello, widely reported to be the former governor’s nephew and from Kogi Central, became Chief of Staff. A transition that should have signalled a fresh mandate looked like a handover of staff.
A Breakdown of Key Portfolios
The concentration is sharpest in the state’s financial and administrative engines. Our analysis shows that the offices of Chief of Staff, Accountant-General, Head of Service and the head of the Board of Internal Revenue are all held by persons of Ebira descent. The Igala, traditionally the largest demographic in the state, hold only one major position on the list, that of Auditor-General. The Okun of Kogi West head the Scholarship Board and the Christian Pilgrims Commission, but are absent from the core economic decision-making seats. Those who hold the treasury, the payroll and the revenue pipe decide who is paid, who is funded and who is heard. The rest of the state has been handed the ceremonial offices.
The pattern runs through the party as well. Alhaji Abdullahi Bello chaired the Kogi APC through the 2023 election that produced Ododo, stepped aside in March 2026, and was confirmed by the Assembly the following month as Commissioner for Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs. The party chairman became a commissioner, a rotation inside one circle. Ahead of 2027, the APC Presidential Campaign Council is chaired by Governor Ododo, with Yahaya Bello among the patrons and Ali Bello as State Coordinator.
A commentary published by Kogi Equity Alliance (KEA) in early 2026 identified additional public offices reportedly occupied by Okene indigenes, including the Attorney-General, SUBEB Chairman, Amir Hajj and Director-General of Government House Administration. KEA has not independently verified every name on the list and therefore calls on the state government to confirm the appointments or clarify any inaccuracies.
“Kogi State Needs Urgent Intervention”
The resentment is now open. Minority groups and the Igala majority say the tilt makes a mockery of the “New Direction” mantra on which this government campaigned. “Governance should be a reflection of our diversity,” says one community leader from Kogi East, who asked not to be named. “When you have 31 out of 40 agencies belonging to one tribe, it isn’t just an imbalance. It’s an exclusion of the rest of the state from the dividends of democracy.” Even within Kogi Central, the Ogori and the Magongo say they are crowded out by Okene.
The consequences are predictable. Civil servants from excluded zones will see a glass ceiling over their careers, and morale will fall. Tension will rise among the three major blocs, Igala, Ebira and Okun, in a state where ethnic mobilisation already dominates our politics. And development projects and resource allocation will follow the administrative tilt, because decisions go where the decision-makers come from.
Appointments are not charity. They carry salaries, contracts and influence over where roads, schools, clinics and security allocations go. A district with no voice in that room soon finds its needs unheard.
KEA therefore makes four demands of the Ododo administration. First, publish a full breakdown of commissioners, special advisers, permanent secretaries, heads of agencies and party and campaign offices by senatorial district, local government and ethnic group. Second, review the leadership of agencies so that East, Central and West are fairly represented, including minority communities within each zone. Third, adopt a transparent selection process based on merit and the federal character principle the Constitution already requires. Fourth, show by action that the governor’s team answers to the people of Kogi and not to any predecessor.
The governor still has time to correct this. A reshuffle that rewards competence across all three districts would silence more critics than any press statement. Kogi cannot be governed from a single town.
Signed:
Adams Yusuf
Convener, Kogi Equity Alliance (KEA)
info@kogiequityalliance.org.ng
