Emmanuel Ikpeama
Lokoja — The proposed grand alliance between Kogi East and Kogi West ahead of the 2027 governorship election in Kogi State has collapsed, at least for now, as the Kogi West delegation staged a walkout from the negotiation table.
A chieftain from Kogi West who was at the meeting told Daily Independent exclusively that the parley was a “deceitful black market” and a “cunning contraption” designed to lure Kogi West into a political slavery that would ultimately hand power to Kogi East.
Speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak publicly, the political stalwart said the models presented by the Kogi East delegation clearly underrated Kogi West and placed the district at a permanent disadvantage.
“I must say that we were disappointed. The Kogi-East delegation put forward strategies that seemed to rate us very low,” he said.
“I think they completely underrated us. They put forward many proposals to take power from Kogi-Central, but all of those proposals will eventually land the governorship in the East and tie our hands to the back. For us, this is unacceptable and we wouldn’t have accepted it.”
The chieftain recalled that Kogi West’s governorship misfortune did not start with Kogi Central alone, insisting that Kogi East also contributed to it in 1999 when the district’s son defeated Kogi West’s candidate despite Kogi West getting the ticket of the most popular party at the time.
“It’s not only the Central that has deprived us of the governorship seat. In 1999, the most popular party in Nigeria at the time gave us the governorship ticket. But Kogi-East fielded their son on the platform of the then APP and defeated our son,” he said.
He stressed that if the alliance must work, Kogi East must show sincerity by stepping down.
“If the proposed alliance must work, Kogi-East needs to take a step back and reconsider their determination to use us to take power from our closest neighbour.”
He warned that Kogi West would not be trapped in a selfish arrangement and would consider other options to realize its governorship ambition.
According to him, the political alignment between Kogi West and Kogi Central in 2023 that produced the incumbent governor was strategic.
“In 2023, the incumbent won because the West worked with the Central. The West didn’t vote for their sons. They deliberately voted for a candidate from the Central with the hope of taking power from him after his tenure. It’s a norm in Nigeria. Anyone who does a first term will want to do a second term.
“The options before us would be to support whoever has five years to go or wait till eternity if we’re giving it to the East. With the way the delegation of Kogi-East behaved at the meeting, they only want to take power and then ensure that no one is able to take it from them again. We cannot be trapped in such a selfish arrangement.”
The chieftain alleged that Kogi East is only seeking an alliance after its solo effort failed in 2023.
“Kogi-East wasn’t happy to have lost power and now they’re desperately trying to seize power. They thought they could go it alone in 2023. But after realizing no single ethnic group can produce the governorship alone, they’re now coming to us,” he said.
He dismissed suggestions that the Kogi West delegation was acting as supporters of any political bloc.
“It was an insult for them to begin to call us supporters of anyone after we rejected the slavery they’re proposing. We’re supporters of Kogi-West. We want the governorship, but we won’t go into the market blind.
“We reject any proposal that won’t give us the governorship ticket first and we won’t be bullied by any ethnic group. If Kogi-East is genuine, they should step down and allow Kogi West to have it in 2027.”
On whether Kogi West would return to the negotiation table with Kogi Central, the chieftain said the district remains open to all genuine discussions.
“We’re open to discussing with everyone to find a solution. We’re interested in the governorship, but we don’t want to be deceived.
Kogi-East has proven with the model presented at our meeting that they’re not sincere with us. They only wanted to walk us into a dark room to arm-twist us,” he said.
As political consultations intensify ahead of 2027, zoning, rotation and sincerity of alliances are expected to dominate Kogi’s political discourse.
While some in Kogi West insist power must return to the district in 2027, others favour allowing the incumbent to complete a second term before the baton moves West.
In 2023, the PDP candidate, Senator Dino Melaye emerged from Kogi West and the SDP candidate, Alhaji Muritala Ajaka from Kogi East, while the alignment between West and Central shaped the final outcome.
