- Time has come to occupy Lugard House – Jemibewon
Ahead of the 2023 elections, Kogi West Elders Forum (KWEF) says the time has come for the senatorial district to produce the next governor of the Confluence State.
In advocating power shift to the Senatorial district, the Forum, led by General David Jemibewon (rtd), said fairness, justice, and peace demand that every part of Kogi state be carried along and given a sense of belonging in the governance and distribution of political offices.
Conveying its position in a statement titled: “A call for Power Rotation in Kogi State”, KWEF argued that power rotation to the district come 2023 will foster a sense of belonging and further enhance unity in the multi-ethnic state.
Signed by its Chairman, General Jemibewon, the Forum noted that the prevalent power imbalance among the three senatorial districts of Kogi East, Kogi Central, and Kogi West does not augur well for future political alignments and harmony in the North Central state.
According to KWEF, the existing lopsided political arrangement and power distribution in the state have continued to ostracise the district and deny its good people of democracy dividends in spite of their noble intentions and active participation in past elections.
Pointing out that district has been left out in the power equation of producing a governor since the creation of Kogi state in 1991, the Elders Forum said this contrast the political mileage by the East and Central districts that have occupied the seat for almost 21 years going and a total of 25 years when Governor Yahaya Bello eventually exit the stage in January 2024.
Going forward, KWEF said it has become a matter of urgent state importance for all political parties to make Kogi West their focus area gubernatorial flagbearers as the next polls beckon in 2023
The Elders’ statement, which pointedly rejected “running mates in all political parties” for the West senatorial district come November 2023, said;
“Governor Yahaya Adoza Bello and all political actors in the state should take conscious note of this demand and support every arrangement that will meet the aspiration.
“All political parties in the West Senatorial District must endeavour to work together to stimulate actions that would produce credible candidate(s) leading to their primaries in the state.
“All political parties in this regard must however align with the Eastern and Central Senatorial Districts of the state to accomplish the objective by working to produce a governorship candidate that will be acceptable to all flanks of the state in the 2023 governorship election.
“The forum wishes to remind his Excellency of our unalloyed support during the last election when we made a public statement that endorsed his re-election based on our insight that he was a democrat, courageous, and would honour our modest agitation for power rotation in the state.”
Urging Governor Bello to have buy-in and embrace their agitation in the interest of justice, KWEF said; “As an aspiring President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, the governor needs to more than before demonstrate his support for an enduring power-sharing and restructuring arrangement at the grassroots level in Kogi State and then Nigeria as widely conversed by all critical and discerning minds in Nigeria.
“This demonstration will show the infallible strength of good character and integrity he poses to lead a multi-ethnic nation like Nigeria. Kogi West Senatorial District has embellished numbers of qualified candidates that are loyal to His Excellency and that understand the need for good governance that will benefit every part of the state.
“Governor Bello must not allow individual or group of people to lead the state back to the woods when the whipping of sentiment, pettiness, and selfishness of interest groups influenced previous administrations to be parochial in the management of the power equation among the various ethnic groups in the state.
“The governor must speak out now to support power equity and measured balance in favour of Kogi West Senatorial District to complete his administration principle of EBIGO, which has been popularised to manage the power-sharing complexity of our Confluence State.” (EBIGO Means…. EB – Ebira; IG – Igala; O – Okun).
Since its creation in 1991, Kogi has produced Governors Shaba Lafiagi; Ibrahim Idris; Idris Wada; and Yahaya Bello with none of them from the West senatorial district.
Also, during the Second Republic, Adamu Attah, an Ebira from the Kogi East Senatorial district, took charge of the old Kwara State and was succeeded by Senator Cornelius Adebayo, whose tenure lasted only three months before the Military struck in a coup and kicked him out of the Government House.
