The Okun Leaders League (OLL) has commended traditional rulers under the auspices of the Okun Traditional Council (OTC), for their statesmanly conduct during the recent visit of Governor Ahmed Ododo.
News footage showed Ododo’s unwieldy convoy constituted a nuisance on the Lokoja-Obajana-Kabba road at the weekend, when the governor drove through the highway en route Kabba to meet with Okun royalties. Ododo was reportedly supposed to have used the visit to canvas the endorsement of the Okun traditional superstructure for his second term bid in 2027.
Local intelligence about the total aversion of Kogi West Senatorial Zone and Okunland to the thought of a perpetuation of the Yahaya Bello political dynasty, however, consigned the subject to the back burner. Ododo rather inspected projects undertaken by the state government and Kabba-Bunu Local Government Area in the course of the visit. The traditional rulers allegedly apprised Ododo of possible backlashes of such a conversation given the uncompromising resolve of Kogi West for power shift to the zone in 2027.
In a statement by its leaders, including Sheikh Abdulrahman Ohinoyi (Kotonkarfe), Group Captain Denja Mahmud (rtd.) (Oworo, Lokoja) and Canon Andrew Baiyekuhi (Kabba-Bunu), OLL commended the sensitivity of the royals to the pervading political mood and enjoins them to remain neutral, apolitical and non-partisan in the evolving political space.
It advised the traditional rulers not to allow their respected offices to be rubbished for a morsel of porridge. According to the group: ‘Traditional rulers must stand above the noise and controversies of politics and resist the rubbishing of their names and offices. Truth be told, no single traditional ruler exercises overarching control over his ward or polling unit such that he can compel voters to do his bidding. The responsibility of our royal fathers in our politics is to encourage their subjects to register to vote, and to exercise their voting rights freely during elections, no more, no less’.
The group also warned against the personalisation of the quest for power shift to Kogi West, noting that it is beyond an individual’s ambition.
OLL said: ‘We observe that the genuine quest of Kogi West for the governorship of Kogi State come 2027 is being narrowed to the person of Hon. James Abiodun Faleke, a distinguished son of Ijumuland. A recent report indeed called for the exclusion of Faleke from the 2027 gubernatorial calculations, positing that President Bola Tinubu has assigned him specific responsibilities ahead of his presidential re-election bid. We make bold to say that nobody has published a transcript of an engagement with Hon. Faleke, where he has disavowed his interest in the Kogi 2027 gubernatorial race.
‘More importantly, Kogi West boasts an avalanche of extremely competent, qualified and experienced human resources beyond the single individual of Hon. Faleke, who can do a much better job of leading Kogi State than has been witnessed in the last 10 years. Kogi West matches the most endowed of states and senatorial zones anywhere in Nigeria with the sheer quality and diversity of its human capital. From Kotonkarfe through Lokoja, Kabba-Bunu, Ijumu, Mopamuro, Yagba East and Yagba West, there are rather overflows, not shortages of world class talent and competence.
‘The aspiration of Kogi West for Lugard House (Government House) come 2027 will not be determined by political contractors procured to sell the fourth term of the Yahaya Bello hegemony. Enough of the backwardness and stagnation which Kogi has witnessed under those who have made our state their political industry and sole revenue provider. There is no going back on the Kogi West push for 2027’.
Other leaders who endorsed the statement are: Mallam Qassim Yusuf (Ijumu), Dr. James Ogbondeminu (Mopamuro), Engr. Omobowale Palufe (Yagba East) and Chief Samuel Obaro (Yagba West).
