By Musa Bakare
Truth must always be spoken without fear. Justice must be demanded without apology. And equity must always prevail over the selfish calculations of political opportunists.
For Kogi West Senatorial District, as the state approaches another gubernatorial transition in November 2027, one fundamental question demands an honest answer: How long must Kogi West continue to wait for its turn to produce the governor of Kogi State ?
Let us reason together: any political arrangement reconciliation or political calculation that seeks to deny Kogi West the governorship in January 2028 will be an invitation to another cycle of resentment, distrust and avoidable political division.
It will be a rejection of fairness in favour of selfish political convenience. And if genuine reconciliation is desired, the clearest path is to give Kogi West the opportunity it has sought since 1991.
Since Kogi State was created in 1991, the question of equitable political representation has remained central to discussions about power, belonging and the future of the three senatorial districts.
Kogi East has produced successive governors, including Prince Abubakar Audu, Ibrahim Idris and Idris Wada.
Kogi Central has also occupied and occupying the governorship through Yahaya Bello and Usman Ododo, and with Adamu Attah in the old Kwara State.
The Central had produced a governor in Kwara State, cohabited with the present day Kwara people, the Okun Yoruba people and the Ebiras.
Kogi West, home to the Okun communities and other constituent populations in the Kogi West Senatorial District of Kogi State, has yet to produce an elected governor.
This historical imbalance cannot be wished away by political slogans, unwieldy seminars, the wishes of political appointees, diplomatic language or unreasonable appeals for patience.
It is a legitimate question of representation that deserves a serious, honest and equitable answer.
The question is whether a state that belongs equally to all its three constituent peoples can continue to sustain a credible sense of collective belonging when one senatorial district has never occupied the governorship.
A citizen of Okun was recently hoodwinked into chairing a seminar comprising some few Kogi West people, came up with a predictably crafted communique that power should only rotate to Kogi West in 2031 after over 17 years of East governorship, 20 years of Central, 4 years in Kwara and 16 years in Kogi State.
That is the moral foundation of the Kogi West governorship aspiration.
The Senator representing Kogi West Senatorial District of Kogi State, Senator Sunday Steve Karimi, is today being treated like a pariahy for daring to give vent to the voice of his people that the people of the district, after over 31 years in limbo, deserve to produce the governor of Kogi State come January 2028.
The APC, Senator Karimi’s political party has conspicuously exempted his photographs from all APC campaign billboards despite his being cleared to contest by INEC.
Who are the people the APC in Kogi State telling the world they are reconciling ? How can a former Governor, Captain Idris Ichala Wada, one who joined APC last year, reconcile those who have been aggrieved for over twelve years ?
No reconciliation of APC in Kogi can produce any acceptable effect without the involvement of the Audu/Faleke political family, especially the Rt. Hon. James Abiodun Faleke, the living legend who, together with the late Prince Abubakar Audu, midwife APC into the landslide victory, drove PDP out of power, handed over the power that APC has been enjoying since 2015.
The true owners of the APC left in limbo in Kogi State since APC assumed power.
Who and what does Wada of PDP, whom the APC political machine booted out of power, known to reconcile in a political party he is still studying and yet to fully understand ?
Today, reconciliation is a deceptive word in Nigeria’s political lexicon. It is a word frequently invoked whenever selfish political feelings are threatened.
True reconciliation requires honesty, sacrifice, mutual respect and a willingness to correct historical imbalances.
If reconciliation is truly the objective, then the question must be asked: what is the meaningful concession that will assure Kogi West that it belongs to Kogi State on equal terms?
Sincere reconciliation must be a credible political commitment to the district’s opportunity to produce the next governor.
Reconciliation without a credible pathway to fairness is merely the postponement of conflict.
Unity without equity is a fragile arrangement built upon the patience of those who feel excluded.
There is a difference between political optimism and political self deception.
Self deception ignores reality and expects a different outcome.
Kogi West must not continue to allow itself to be distracted by political arguments that offer no convincing answer to the district’s historical exclusion from the governorship.
Neither should it be persuaded that demanding an equitable opportunity is an act of hostility against other parts of the state.
Those who insist that Kogi West should wait indefinitely must explain the principle upon which such a demand rests.
To dismiss the Kogi West aspiration this time without addressing its historical foundation is not political wisdom.
To treat the demand as an inconvenience rather than a legitimate question of equity is to misunderstand the very purpose of democratic representation.
Any reconciliation formula that excludes the Audu/Faleke political family and a credible Kogi West governorship opportunity in 2027 will be a futile exercise in political self deception.
Kogi West producing the next governor would send a powerful message that political inclusion is not merely a campaign slogan.
The argument for Kogi West in the next election cycle must not rest on geography alone. It must combine the moral force of equity with the practical requirements of democratic leadership.
As the 2027 governorship transition approaches, Kogi State stands before a consequential choice.
It can reduce reconciliation to speeches and ceremonial gatherings. Or it can give reconciliation a tangible political expression through a credible commitment to equitable representation.
It can continue to treat the Kogi West aspiration as a problem to be managed. Or it can recognise it as an opportunity to strengthen the unity and legitimacy of the state.
The choice belongs to the people, the political parties and the stakeholders who will shape the process leading to January 2028.
This is not a call for hostility. It is a call for fairness. It is not an invitation to ethnic rivalry. It is an appeal for a more inclusive political culture.
Kogi State belongs to all its people. Its future must be shaped by a politics that respects every district, recognises historical realities and gives every qualified citizen a fair opportunity to aspire to leadership.
Let reconciliation be genuine. Let equity be meaningful. Let unity be practical.
Let history record that Kogi State chose inclusion over exclusion, justice over convenience, and collective progress over narrow political calculations.
The only meaningful window for reconciliation is a credible commitment to Kogi West’s governorship position in January 2028.
Anything less is a missed opportunity to heal old wounds and build a stronger, fairer and more united Kogi State.
– Musa Asiru Bakare, a political analyst, writes from Lokoja, Kogi State.
