Stakeholders of the All Progressives Congress (APC) from the Kogi East senatorial district have endorsed President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and the Kogi State governor, Ahmed Usman Ododo for re-election in 2027, while calling for a negotiated and peaceful framework for power rotation among the state’s three senatorial districts.
The position was contained in a communiqué issued at the end of the Kogi East APC Strategic Leadership Conference held in Abuja on Monday under the chairmanship of Major-General Patrick Ademu Akpa (retd).
The stakeholders pledged to mobilise support across the 9 local government areas of Kogi East to ensure the victory of President Tinubu, Governor Ododo and other APC candidates in the 2027 general elections.
They described Kogi East as the state’s largest voting bloc and recalled that the district delivered the highest number of votes for President Tinubu among the three senatorial districts during the 2023 presidential election.
The group also expressed appreciation to President Tinubu for appointing indigenes of Kogi East into key federal positions, describing the appointments as evidence of the president’s commitment to inclusiveness.
While reaffirming support for the APC-led governments at the federal and state levels, the stakeholders called for dialogue with Kogi Central and Kogi West to establish a transparent and equitable framework for the rotation of political power in the state.
According to the communiqué, the region would no longer accept what it described as political marginalisation but would pursue its aspirations through consensus-building and peaceful negotiations.
The conference also urged the federal and state governments to address what it described as over two decades of infrastructural deficit in Kogi East through accelerated road construction, public infrastructure upgrades and other development projects across the district.
The stakeholders attributed the region’s development challenges to years of neglect and internal political divisions following the death of former Governor Prince Abubakar Audu, and pledged to work towards greater unity among political leaders in the area.
Among other resolutions, the conference called for the institutionalisation of the Prince Abubakar Audu Leadership Foundation, and urged the federal government to confer a national honour on the late former governor in recognition of his contributions to Kogi State’s development.
The communiqué was signed by 26 prominent leaders from the district, including Major-General Patrick Ademu Akpa (retd); Ambassador Isaac A. Onu; Ismaila Inna Hussani; Dr Emmanuel Egwu; Hajiya Salamatu Baiwa Umar-Eluma; AIG Abutu Iyaro (retd); Dr Sani Teidi; Dan Okolo; Abdulahi Haruna (SAN); Dr Johnson Musa and Prof Aliyu Idris.