By Friday Idachaba, Lokoja
Kogi West has intensified its demand to produce the next governor of the state, declaring that 35 years of exclusion from the governorship has become untenable.
The group declared that “it is now West O’Clock.”
The demand was made by community and political groups under the aegis of DeGroup at the Kogi Power Rotation Summit.
They called for a binding framework to guide political power-sharing among the three senatorial districts.
In a memorandum, the Rimi Development Association, Lokoja, argued that Kogi West had never produced a governor since the state was created in 1991.
The association said Kogi East and Kogi Central had controlled the governorship for different periods.
It described Kogi West’s situation as “35 years of absolute exclusion.”
The group argued that allowing the West to produce the next governor would address what it described as a structural political imbalance.
It said equity should extend beyond the governorship.
The association demanded fairness in the deputy governorship, legislative leadership, public appointments and infrastructure projects.
It also called for a binding “Kogi Charter of Equity.”
The proposed charter would establish clear power-rotation rules for political parties.
The group further demanded an audit of previous public appointments and infrastructure projects.
It proposed an advisory council to monitor compliance across the state’s 21 local government areas.
Speaking at a press conference organised by DeGroup, former House of Representatives member, Barrister Shaaba Ibrahim, criticised the handling of memoranda submitted by Kogi West groups.
Ibrahim alleged that the submissions were not adequately considered at the summit.
“As this stands, we feel our voices have been muzzled and muffled and suppressed,” he said.
He said the West remained committed to the power-rotation demand.
“We are emotional about this; we are committed to the issue of power rotation to the West,” Ibrahim said.
Also speaking, Suleiman Mohammed Baba, representative of the Danko Development Forum, said the demand was based on equity, justice, fairness and inclusion.
Baba said Kogi West had supported the emergence of other zones in previous political arrangements.
He cited the former Kwara State power-sharing arrangement under the late Dr Olusola Saraki as an example of political accommodation.
Baba said DDF submitted a seven-point recommendation to the summit.
The proposals included a codified equity charter, an implementation committee and an elders’ advisory body.
He said the structures would monitor power rotation across the 21 LGAs.
Meanwhile, retired Colonel Kabiru Ndamodu, the group’s Public Relations Officer, alleged that Kogi West delegates faced hostility at the summit.
He alleged that their maroon-coloured caps and banner were seized.
Ndamodu further alleged that some of the items were set ablaze.
He condemned the alleged incident as contrary to the summit’s stated objectives of peace, unity and dialogue.
He urged stakeholders to embrace negotiation rather than confrontation.
The groups argued that allowing another zone to retain power beyond the current tenure would further prolong Kogi West’s wait for the governorship.
They maintained that the governorship should move to Kogi West in 2027/2028 to complete what they described as an equitable rotation of power.