Mr. Leke Abejide of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) has been chosen by the Kogi West Elders Forum (KWEF) as their consensus candidate for the Kogi Governorship Election on November 11.
The forum announced its stance in a communiqué of the endorsement read on Monday in Abuja by the Secretary, Dr. Tunde Arosanyin, and signed by its Chairman, retired Maj.-Gen. David Jemibewon.
The forum said, however, that it was aware of the Supreme Court challenge brought against the party’s primaries by one of their sons, Sen. Smart Adeyemi of the All Progressive Congress (APC).
They stated that if the situation favoured Adeyemi to be able to carry everyone along, the forum could reconsider the recommendation.
Arosanyin, who was reading the communiqué, stated that it was vital to clarify the KWEF’s strategy and how the forum had intervened to support a consensus candidate for the West Senatorial District in the upcoming governorship race.
According to him, the forum has been calling for the transfer of power to the west since 2019 and that this call is genuine, fair, and in the interests of peace, equity, and justice in the state.
This, he claims, is because the district has been “shortchanged” ever since the state’s formation in 1991 from the power-sharing agreement to hold the prestigious post of the Executive Governor.
The secretary said that the elders had collaborated with organisations such as the Okun Development Association (ODA) and Okun Think Thank (OTT) that shared similar goals and had reactivated the mechanism for the demand as soon as INEC announced the election schedule in early 2023.
He claims that the conference sought input from significant state stakeholders and called attention to the imbalance in the holding of the executive governor’s office.
“At the same time, it demanded reform by backing a Western candidate to win the election.
The KWEF worked with state stakeholders to accomplish this through its Contact and Mobilisation Committee.
“The incumbent governor, His Excellency Governor Yahaya Adoza Bello, was the first crucial stakeholder to be contacted. The KWEF met with him numerous times between 2019 and 23 to request support for the rightful demand.
“KWEF is aware that certain other Kogi West Senatorial District stakeholders paid similar visits around the same time.
“The forum had additional consultations with other interested parties, particularly the significant political figures in the different parties.
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The Federal Republic of Nigeria’s president was subsequently visited by the Forum and its associate organisations. In order to further this cause, His Excellency President Bola Tinubu urged the Presidency in August to back a candidate from the Western Senatorial District for governor of the state.
The forum thought that this was in keeping with the country’s many citizens, tribes, and regions that have long demanded democracy but have been denied a system of rotating authority.
The President’s remarks to the conference “reinforced our view that the West needed to build the rank with the other two senatorial districts of East and Central to gain power in Kogi,” he said.
According to Arosanyin, the forum also interacted with lawmakers from neighbouring districts as well as all zone candidates before and after the primaries, including those who won and those who failed.
Sen. Dino Melaiye (PDP), Olayinka Braimoh (AA), and Leke Abejide (ADC) were the three front-runner candidates in the West at the time of the post-primary voting, he claimed.
He claimed that each of the three candidates was eligible to run for office on their own, but that they would split the vote against the West Senatorial District’s residents’ shared goals.
“The three front-runner candidates were invited to the forum on multiple occasions to gauge their degree of readiness. But each of the three contenders was determined to stand alone in the election.
“In light of the foregoing, the forum established a committee to evaluate the candidates on crucial factors like their plans for Kogi, their acceptance by each of the three senatorial districts, the breadth and scope of their campaigns, their political experience, their popularity and appeal within their own party, and a host of other factors.
“The forum made sure that between August and October, the three contenders received fair evaluations and ratings. To support the work of the forum’s assessment committee, internal elections within the forum were held.
“After going through the evaluation and engagement phases, as well as public opinion polling, Hon. Elder Leke Abejide of the ADC received the highest rating among the three front-runners in the West Senatorial District.
In light of this, the forum supports Hon. Leke Abejide of the ADC as the consensus candidate for the Kogi West Senatorial District in the November 2023 election.
“We hereby solicit for the support and cooperation of everyone in pushing through to victory the consensus candidate in the Nov. 11 election in the saint of equity, fairness, and justice,” he added.
The forum urged the other two candidates from the Western Senatorial District, particularly from the Central and Eastern Senatorial Districts, to support Abejide so that they may end up being heroes. (NAN)
