Fresh Trouble in Kogi APC as Power Rotation Agitation Fuels Karimi–Government Rift

The dispute over Senator Sunday Steve Karimi’s APC ticket and the demand for Kogi West to produce the governor in 2028 are bringing two separate political questions into the same conversation: who represents the district in the Senate, and how governorship power should be shared across Kogi State.

For the All Progressives Congress, the challenge is to resolve its nomination disputes while managing expectations around the state’s next governorship election. Failure in either area could complicate negotiations in the other.

The available evidence establishes disagreement over candidates and competing proposals for power rotation. It does not establish that every actor involved is pursuing a coordinated succession strategy.

Karimi’s ticket tests confidence in party procedures

Karimi was declared winner of the May 18, 2026 APC senatorial primary with 51,665 votes, according to the result reported by Tribune. His nomination subsequently became the subject of a court challenge by Samuel Bamidele Aro.

The Guardian reported that Aro sued the APC, Karimi and the Independent National Electoral Commission at the Federal High Court in Lokoja, questioning the nomination process and the submission of Karimi’s name.

Those are contested claims requiring determination through the applicable legal process. A lawsuit does not, by itself, establish that the nomination was unlawful.

The Bureau Journal previously reported protests and demands by Karimi’s supporters for protection of the declared primary result. Their position illustrates the depth of disagreement over which account of the nomination process party members accept.

For the APC, the immediate task is therefore procedural: communicate its decisions clearly, address complaints through recognised mechanisms and respect any applicable court orders.

Kogi West’s governorship demand raises a different question

The governorship agitation concerns the distribution of executive power rather than the validity of a Senate primary.

Advocates argue that Kogi West’s exclusion from the substantive elected governorship since 1999 provides a compelling case for rotation. Kogi East produced the elected governors before Yahaya Bello’s administration began in 2016, while Governor Ahmed Usman Ododo also comes from Kogi Central.

Former Commissioner for Information, Dr Tom Ohikere, has advocated an eight-year rotation beginning with Kogi West in 2028, followed by Kogi East and then Kogi Central.

In comments supplied to The Bureau Journal, Ohikere and Ojochenemi Abubakar opposed the approach associated with the Kogi Unity Accord and called for a broadly negotiated charter of equity.

Their proposal places consent at the centre of the debate. A workable agreement would need to explain who participates, how political parties adopt it and how disagreements are resolved.

Why the Senate and governorship debates intersect

The two contests are separate. Winning a Senate nomination does not confer authority to allocate the governorship, and supporting rotation does not determine the lawful winner of a party primary.

They nevertheless involve overlapping party structures, community leaders and political supporters. Relationships damaged during the Senate contest could make later discussions about governorship rotation more difficult.

Conversely, a credible reconciliation process could preserve cooperation even where stakeholders disagree about candidates or zoning.

The issue is not confined to Kogi West. The Bureau Journal has covered the dispute surrounding Echocho’s return bid and Joseph Erico’s emergence in Kogi East, as well as the challenge to Yahaya Bello’s Kogi Central nomination.

These separate disputes show why the party’s approach to complaints matters across all three districts. The publication’s coverage of APC senatorial nominations provides the wider electoral context.

What Ododo and APC leaders must resolve

Governor Ododo and party leaders face two distinct responsibilities: maintaining confidence in candidate selection and creating space for discussion about political inclusion.

Treating every nomination complaint as disloyalty could deepen resentment. Treating every rotation demand as an agreed position of an entire district would also overlook differences among voters and stakeholders.

Public declarations of party unity cannot settle either issue. Reconciliation requires clarity about decisions, opportunities for affected stakeholders to be heard and acceptance that some questions may remain subject to litigation.

The Bureau Journal’s report on the influence of governors’ preferred candidates in APC nomination discussions examines the broader tension between stakeholder influence and formal party procedures.

For Kogi West, the next test is whether its Senate dispute can be resolved without making governorship negotiations harder. For the APC, the test is whether it can keep those processes credible while accommodating competing ambitions within the same party.