Senator Jibrin Isah, the lawmaker representing Kogi East Senatorial District and popularly known as Echocho, has declared open war on Kogi State Governor Ahmed Usman Ododo — threatening to contest the governorship against him in 2027 after losing his return ticket in Monday’s APC senatorial primary in what he described as a heavily manipulated exercise.
Jibrin arrived at his ward in Kogi East on Monday to cast his vote in the primary. No electoral officer was present. Voting materials were nowhere to be found. And when results were eventually announced, just two votes had been recorded in his name in his own ward — the community where he is best known and where his support is strongest.
Speaking to journalists and supporters after the exercise, the senator left no room for ambiguity. He accused agents of Governor Ododo of deliberately hijacking electoral materials across multiple wards in the district, shutting out his supporters from participating in the process. He alleged that the results announced were prepared at the Government House before any voting took place.
“That result is a nullity and cannot even be announced,” he said. Then he turned the statement into a direct challenge: “Since you are now out to fight me, take it from me today — the battle line has been drawn.”
He added: “Well, with the latest development, I will now contest for the governorship position against Governor Ododo when the time comes.”
The senator said the reason the governor moved against him was that Ododo had been told he was planning to contest for governor in the future. His response to finding that out was pointed: by trying to eliminate a potential rival for governor, the governor had instead confirmed and hardened that rivalry.
“I have the right. The battle line has been drawn,” Jibrin said.
The senator is not a peripheral political figure. He chairs the Senate Committee on Customs and Excise, a powerful committee with significant reach. He has pointed to development projects and empowerment programmes across Kogi East as evidence of his legislative productivity, and has argued that his work in the district has helped build APC support that would guarantee victories for the party — including for the President — at the 2027 polls.
He said he had remained loyal to Ododo and the APC leadership throughout his time in the Senate, and questioned why he was being targeted despite his contributions. He called on the APC’s national leadership to order a proper investigation into what happened in Kogi East on Monday and to ensure fairness and transparency in the party’s internal electoral processes.
Jibrin’s defeat was part of a broader pattern across the country. Several sitting APC senators lost their return tickets in Monday’s primaries. Among the high-profile casualties were Senator Ned Nwoko of Delta North, who lost heavily to former Delta Governor Ifeanyi Okowa, and Senator Neda Imasuen in Edo South, who fell to a former member of the House of Representatives. The 2027 cycle is already producing major upsets across party structures.
In Kogi State specifically, Monday’s primaries were marked by controversy on multiple fronts. In Kogi Central, former Governor Yahaya Bello secured the APC senatorial ticket despite ongoing EFCC prosecution for alleged money laundering involving billions of naira. In Kogi West, incumbent senator Sunday Karimi emerged through a consensus arrangement brokered at the Government House, effectively boxing out other aspirants. The overall picture in Kogi was one of a governor with a tight grip on the party structure — tight enough, Senator Jibrin says, to strangle genuine internal democracy.
Governor Ododo voted in the primary at his Upogoro/Odenku Ward in Okene LGA and described the process as “peaceful, transparent, and orderly.” That account stands in direct contradiction to what Jibrin described in Kogi East.
One of these versions of events is closer to the truth. The APC’s national leadership now faces a choice: investigate the senator’s allegations seriously, or allow Monday’s results to stand and risk a public and damaging rift that extends well into the 2027 campaign season. Either way, the senator has made his position clear. A battle that was perhaps always coming has now been formally declared.