KOGI WEST APC LEADERS’ PRESS CONFERENCE: A Faux Pas?
There are moments in politics when silence is interpreted as consent. This is not one of them.
The recent press conference by a group of APC leaders in Kogi West, ostensibly convened to reject the candidacy of Senator Sunday Steve Karimi in favour of Hon. Samuel Bamidele Aro, is not merely another episode in the internal contest for political relevance. It is a troubling reminder of a dangerous tendency in our politics—the belief that the preferences of a few influential voices should supersede established democratic processes.
It is an undisputable fact that, our party, the APC prides itself as a progressive party founded on the principles of constitutionalism, fairness and internal democracy, therefore, its leaders must resist the temptation to replace the rule of law with the rule of influence, which the action of the Kogi West leadership clearly portrayed.
No political leader, regardless of age, title or pedigree, possesses the moral or constitutional authority to determine who should represent the collective aspirations of party members outside the processes prescribed by the party’s constitution. That responsibility belongs to the party’s lawful organs and, where disputes arise, to the recognised mechanisms established for their resolution.
It is therefore disappointing that some so-called leaders would choose the theatre of a press conference over the discipline of institutional engagement. One would have expected statesmanship. Instead, what Kogites in particular, and Nigerians in general, witnessed was an attempt to shape public opinion against a serving senator whose political journey and mandate should be judged through the party’s constitutional processes—not through media pronouncements. The fundamental question is simple: When did political endorsements become superior to party procedures?
What, therefore, makes the entire episode even more curious is the selective understanding of democracy displayed by those involved. The same political class that routinely calls for party discipline appears unwilling to submit to party decisions whenever those decisions fail to produce its preferred outcome. Such inconsistency weakens institutions and encourages factional politics, as some of these so-called leaders were responsible for scuttling the political aspirations of some individuals, using internal party mechanism, as a ploy, to stall their aspiration for elective positions in Kogi State.
It should be understood that no one questions the democratic right of Hon. Samuel Bamidele Aro or his supporters to pursue political ambition. Ambition is legitimate. Competition is healthy. Every qualified party member has every right to seek elective office. What is objectionable is the apparent attempt to confer legitimacy through elite endorsement rather than constitutional process.
However, it should be emphasised that Senator Karimi’s candidacy went through the test of the party’s constitutional procedures and emerged victorious. This fact was attested to by some of those who were present at the puerile press conference. With the benefit of hindsight, it should be crystally clear that no volume of press conferences, no gathering of political heavyweights and no orchestrated media campaign can substitute for the authority of the party’s lawful processes.
Politics is not a private estate inherited by a privileged few. Kogi West does not belong to any political aristocracy. It belongs to its people, and by extension, to every APC member who believes that leadership should emerge through transparent and credible procedures.
Another dimension that should concern every loyal APC member in Kogi West was the attempt to drag the name of Hon. James Abiodun Faleke into the contest, with one of the ‘leaders’ calling on Mr. President to call Hon. Faleke to order. He threatened that failure of Mr President to do that, might affect Mr President’s political success in the 2027 election in the Senatorial District. What a laughable threat! This is a threat without a substance as he lacks the political sagacity to determine the outcome of electoral process in the senatorial district. Hon. Faleke is a distinguished son of the district. He has drawn massive infrastructural facilities to every nook and cranny of the district, and the people are well pleased with him.
The fall out of the press conference had opened the eyes of party members to the fact that, the people of Kogi West deserve leaders who are more interested in expanding democratic participation than narrowing it. Therefore, the people should strive to do away with butter and bread politicians who are the purveyor of amala kind of politics that serves their own personal interest.
The APC members of Kogi West deserve politics driven by ideas, performance and service—not by declarations that appear designed to predetermine outcomes before party institutions have spoken conclusively. Kogi West deserves better than politics by proclamation. It deserves politics governed by principle.
I would like to admonish the press conference organisers to take note of the fact that if every dissatisfied group of leaders convenes a press conference each time internal decisions do not align with its preferences, then what purpose do party constitutions serve? Why conduct primaries? Why establish appeal committees? Why create internal dispute-resolution mechanisms?
In conclusion, I wish to aver that Distinguished Senator Steve Karimi has risen on the strength of the law, the party’s rules and the confidence of Kogi West APC members—not on the preferences of a select gathering of political elites.
Alhaji {Chief} Tai Hassan Ejibunu {The Obatebise of Oweland}
Retired Federal Director of Air Transport Management, Politician and Businessman.
(DEMOCRACY NEWSLINE NEWSPAPER, JULY 7TH 2026)
