Adavi/Okehi Federal Seat… History is Unfolding Before Our Eyes.”

I first ran for the Federal House of Representatives seat for Adavi/Okehi constituency during the 2010/2011 election cycle. I was 32 years old at the time, the youngest among the contestants, running under the PDP. I bought my form for ₦1.5 million. I remember submitting my form alongside Senator Dino Melaye, Alhaji Abdulraham Badams, and others at the party secretariat in late 2010. Then came the primaries. After spending millions, the party under Governor Ibrahim Idris already had a preferred candidate, his anointed son. The rest is history.

I moved on but continued my philanthropy and outreach over the years. I regrouped and took a shot at the Senate in 2015 under the Labour Party at age 36, running alongside Senator Ohiare, Senator Deen Abatemi, Senator Ahmed Ogembe, and others. I bought my form for ₦3.5 million and spent millions more crisscrossing the five LGAs of Kogi Central as a minority party. The task of enlightening the populace was enormous. This time, I made it to the general election. But the APC, a new party with the late Buhari's wave, swept the polls, and Senator Ohiare won. Shortly after, the election was challenged in court, APC lost, and we had a rerun in February 2016, which Senator Ahmed Ogembe won.

Since then, I stepped back from politics and focused on my NGO, Project Second Chance Foundation, which concentrates on three critical areas: economic empowerment, education, and health support. We continue to help the masses and reach out to the less privileged empowering women, youth, and the elderly, providing short-term cash relief as well as medium- and long-term interventions. All these achieved with no Federal or state appointments, all my personal resources.

Ahead of 2027, with the Federal House of Representatives seat for Adavi/Okehi returning to Adavi LGA, I have once again thrown my hat in the ring, believing I have the expertise and experience to represent the good people. With hundreds of millions of naira gone down the drain in the past 16years, its seems nothing has changed from my first primaries in 2010. However, in recent times, we were told that His Excellency Usman Ododo set up a stakeholder committee to look into the zoning of the seat among the clan heads in Adavi, I must commend his excellency for that bold step. Fortunately, the committee's submission zoned the seat to the Aniku-Ozidu clan.

But to my surprise, when a stakeholders' meeting was summoned by the clan elders and some stakeholders within the Aniku clan, we were told by the Adavi APC party chairman Hon Barnabas seconded by counselor Hon. Maridiya that orders from above meant the government already has a candidate in mind (the meeting was recorded for future reference). I would have thought that if you zone something to a particular clan, the elders, youth, and others should independently be given the opportunity to freely come up with modalities for selecting their candidate. But no all aspirants were simply gathered to be informed.

The thing is, several people in my inbox and on phone conversations had predicted this would happen, but I thought let's give them a chance to do the right thing, create a fair level playing field for all aspirants. When you hand over Adavi LGA to the hands of one person, you see a well-orchestrated plan to lead the party to failure.

There are consequences for every injustice (reference 2023 Adavi/Okehi Rep election). Fielding or forcing a candidate in an unfair manner, without carrying the masses along, will have its repercussions. Read the handwriting on the wall the game has changed. Pay attention to the tone across the country. If you aren't fielding your best 11 that can help you win back the hearts and mind of the people, reassuring confidence that you have the people at heart, then you're planning to fail.

The people are watching.

KOA