Being a National Press Conference Address Delivered By Dr. Tom Ohikere, An Ebira Man From Okene, Kogi Central, Two-Term Former Commissioner for Information, Kogi State, and Convener, Coalition for Better Kogi State, Abuja,
28th September, 2026
Gentlemen of the Press,
Let me tell you who I am.
I am Dr. Tom Ohikere. I am an Ebira man from Okene. I am from Kogi Central. I served this state as Commissioner for Information for two terms.
I did not use that office to make noise. I used it to travel, to listen, to understand. I went to all 21 LGAs. I saw the problems of Kogi State and I saw the prospects of solutions. So I speak today not as an outsider, but as an insider who knows.
My zone, Kogi Central, did 8 years under Yahaya Bello and is doing 2 years plus under Usman Ododo. 10 years today, 12 years by January 2028.
Yet I stand here today with the Coalition for Better Kogi State – a platform where majority of members are from Kogi East and Kogi West – to say: Power must rotate to Kogi West in 2028.
*. THE STARK FACT: 17-10-0″
Kogi was created on August 27, 1991 on the pillars of fairness and inclusion.
Since 1999:
Kogi East: 17 Years – Abubakar Audu (1999-2003), Ibrahim Idris (2003-2012), Idris Wada (2012-2016).
Kogi Central: 10 Years today, 12 by 2028 – Yahaya Bello (2016-2024), Usman Ododo (2024 to date).
Kogi West: 0 Year as Executive Governor.
This is the fact no English can change. As an Ebira man from Okene, I cannot defend 17-12-0. My conscience forbids it.
II. WHY I FROM KOGI CENTRAL AM DEMANDING KOGI WEST – FIVE REASONS
1. Justice: Section 14(4) of the Constitution talks about sense of belonging. You cannot claim sense of belonging when one leg of the state has never stood. Kogi is like a three-legged stool. For 27 years, two legs have carried the load. The third leg has never been allowed to stand. If you continue that way, the stool will collapse.
2. Peace and Credibility: Look at Osun on August 15, 2026. Adeleke 511,067, Oyebamiji 444,815. No tribunal petition after 21 days for the first time. Why? People felt included and they defended their votes. In Kogi, every election goes to tribunal because exclusion creates suspicion. As a former Information Commissioner who managed post-election crisis communication, I tell you: zoning to West in 2028 will bring peace.
3. Capacity: Kogi West is not asking for sympathy. Kogi West hosts Lokoja, the capital and confluence centre. It hosts Obajana, Africa’s biggest cement factory. It hosts the Kabba-Lokoja-Abuja corridor and the Yagba cashew belt that feeds our export. It is the most diverse – Okun, Oworo, Bassa, Gbagyi, Ebira Koto, Nupe. Only Kogi West can truly unite Kogi state.
4. Precedent: Before 2015, when power was to move from East, there was political understanding between Central and West. Nobody organized an academic conference to debate whether Central was qualified. There was negotiation and agreement. Why should West’s own turn now require a classroom lecture? If rotation was good for Central, it must be good for West.
5. Political Common Sense: Rotation is not in the Constitution, but politics is not only Constitution. Politics is agreement, convention, trust. Every party does zoning. Kogi cannot be an exception only when it reaches West. Any party – APC, PDP, ADC – that zones to West in 2028 will win easily. Any party that does otherwise is looking for trouble.
III. OUR REJECTION OF THE PSEUDO SUMMIT OF 30TH SEPT – 1ST OCT BY STATE GOVERNMENT OFFICIALS
Gentlemen, we have seen flyers of a so-called “Kogi Unity and Power Rotation Summit” for 30th September to 1st October, 2026.
Let me clarify: This is NOT organized by Kogi State Government as a government. It is organized by State Government Officials – serving Commissioners, SAs, SSAs – using state influence to convene a private meeting.
As a former Commissioner, I know the format. That is why we in the Coalition for Better Kogi State reject it strongly.
a) It lacks neutrality: You cannot be a beneficiary of 10 years going to 12 years and at the same time be the moderator of who gets it next. These officials depend on the current structure for their jobs. They cannot be neutral.
b) It misplaces the question: The question is not whether Kogi West is qualified. Kogi West is qualified. Kogi West has competent men and women. The question is how we create a fair pathway for all three zones to lead peacefully. This officials’ gathering does not answer that.
c) It is a talk-shop to delay: You cannot use two days of speeches and communique to settle 27 years of imbalance. If every time a zone’s turn comes you call another conference, then equity will never happen. It becomes a method of postponement.
d) We will not attend: The Coalition for Better Kogi State will not attend. We will not send representatives. We will not give legitimacy to a meeting of appointees pretending to be stakeholders. If they are sincere, let them resign their appointments and convene elders as citizens.
You can rent halls, you can invite professors and traditional rulers, you can write communiques. But after the hall is empty, one fact will remain: Kogi West has never produced a governor.
IV. OUR OWN GENUINE NATIONAL SUMMIT – THE CONVERSATION KOGI REALLY NEEDS
We believe in dialogue, but dialogue that leads to justice.
The Coalition for Better Kogi State is therefore organizing a Genuine KOGI EQUITY, UNITY AND ROTATION NATIONAL SUMMIT.
Theme:” From 17-12-0 to 17-12-8: Building a Fair Kogi for All”
Date: Third Week of October, 2026
Venue: Abuja, with Kabba as alternate view centre for those who cannot travel
This is a citizens’ summit, not an officials’ seminar. Participants will be drawn mostly from Kogi East and Kogi West who constitute our majority, plus patriotic sons of Kogi Central like me who believe fairness is strength.
We will discuss how to build a fair Kogi, not whether West should aspire. West has already earned the right to aspire by waiting 27 years.
This summit will produce a KOGI CHARTER OF EQUITY to be presented to all political parties, to INEC and to Nigerians.
V. CONCLUSION
I speak as an Ebira man from Okene who has been inside government for two terms as Commissioner for Information. I know the problems and I know the solutions. One of the solutions is equity.
Kogi East has governed. Kogi Central has governed. Kogi West has not. That is history.
Kogi West is not asking for dash. They are asking for what is fair. They are not asking others to vanish. They are asking to be included. They are not asking to avoid democracy. They are asking that democracy should include them.
A time will come when our children will ask: When it was Kogi West’s turn, where did you stand? Did you stand for fairness or did you hide under seminars?
As for me, Tom Ohikere, Ebira man from Okene, my answer today is: I stood for fairness. I stood for Kogi West.
17-10-0 today, 17-12-0 by January 2028, must become 17-12-8 for a better Kogi State.
God bless Kogi State.
God bless the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
Dr. Tom Ohikere
An Ebira Man from Okene, Kogi Central
Two-Term Former Commissioner for Information, Kogi State
Convener, Coalition for Better Kogi State
27th September, 2026
