THE PEACEMAKER OF KOGI WEST: HOW SENATOR KARIMI IS REWRITING THE APC STORY
By Our Reporter
Politics in Kogi West has not always been this calm.
For months after the APC senatorial primary, the district was tense. Camps were divided. Conversations were guarded. Party faithful wondered if the cracks would widen ahead of 2027.
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But on a Sunday in Lokoja, Senator Sunday Steve Karimi called everyone to one table. Local government chairmen, party executives, women leaders, youths, appointees, and former rivals all sat together. The message was simple: “Let’s make peace.”
It was not a speech filled with political jargon. It was personal.
“All my life, I have wanted peace because I want to make heaven. Whatever you have in this world is temporary. When the time comes, God will judge you according to your deeds while you were alive,” Karimi told the gathering.
For a politician in Nigeria’s heated terrain, that sounded different. No threats. No blame. Just a call to forgive and move on.
He reminded them that political differences should never destroy relationships built over years. “No political ambition is worth sacrificing peace and harmony,” he said.
The stakes were high. Kogi West APC had been battling internal disagreements since the last primary. That division was already becoming talking points for the opposition.
By convening stakeholders from all 7 LGAs, Karimi was not just settling scores. He was resetting the party. The meeting reaffirmed support for President Bola Tinubu and Governor Ahmed Ododo, but more importantly, it reaffirmed support for one another.
Stakeholders left the hall pledging to strengthen party structures and work for victory in 2027. For many, it felt like the first time in a long while that the party spoke with one voice.
Those close to Karimi say this approach is consistent. As Chairman of the Senate Services Committee, colleagues describe him as calm, consultative, and deliberate.
But in Kogi West, he is seen as something else: a bridge-builder.
Political observers now call the meeting a turning point. “With factions speaking with one voice, APC will approach future contests from a position of strength,” one chieftain noted.
The task now is to sustain it. Reconciliation is easy in one meeting. Keeping it is the hard part.
But if the mood in that hall is anything to go by, Karimi may have just given Kogi West APC its best chance to stay united.
His reason is not just 2027. It is deeper. “Life is temporary,” he said. “We must account to God.”
In a political season driven by ambition, that might be the most unusual campaign message of all: Peace first.
(DEMOCRACY NEWSLINE NEWSPAPER 27TH JULY)
