By joshua 
2027: LOYALTY CANNOT BE COUNTERFEITED – RT. HON. JAMES ABIODUN FALEKE CANNOT BE INTIMIDATED BY ATTENTION SEEKING DECAMPEES
By Musa Bakare
Politics is not a marketplace where loyalty is bought by the highest bidder. It is a sacred covenant between conviction and service. It is the long road where sacrifice is remembered, character is tested, and history ultimately separates the builders from the beneficiaries.
Those who arrive at the end of the journey should never imagine that they began it.
The recent press conference organised by a self styled group under the banner of “APC Kogi West Stakeholders” is less a demonstration of political strength than a reflection of the struggle by some recent entrants into the All Progressives Congress to redefine a history they were neither part of nor sustained.
The APC in Kogi State was not built in air conditioned conference rooms. It was forged in the furnace of political persecution, electoral battles, financial sacrifice, and uncommon courage by men and women who stood firm when the party’s future appeared uncertain.
Among those enduring pillars stands Rt. Hon. James Abiodun Faleke. As the deputy gubernatorial candidate to the late Prince Abubakar Audu, he put everything on the line, successfully midwifing and prosecuting the APC to a landslide election victory over the PDP in 2015.
Hon. Faleke is a man whose political consistency, organisational discipline, loyalty to the progressive family, and unwavering commitment to grassroots politics have earned him enduring respect across Nigeria.
Leadership is not inherited through defection. Influence is not conferred by appointment. Respect is not manufactured through press conferences. It is earned through years of sacrifice.
It is therefore astonishing that individuals who, until yesterday, stood on the opposite side of the political divide, who were vehemently abusive and insulting to those of us who were foot soldiers in the then opposition APC now seek to lecture founding members of the party on loyalty, discipline, and party direction.
Democracy welcomes every genuine convert. The APC is large enough to accommodate everyone who embraces its ideals. But every political family is sustained by values, and one of those values is humility and resilience.
A newcomer should first learn the history of the house before attempting to rearrange its foundation.
The suggestion that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s political fortunes in 2027 depend upon calling Rt. Hon. James Abiodun Faleke to order is a political opinion, not an established truth. It reflects the position of one newcomer faction and cannot be mistaken for the collective voice of the APC in Kogi West.
Governor Ododo was magnanimous in accepting them into the APC when they escaped their sinking PDP ship, decamped, and were offered juicy appointments with which they now no longer know their limitations. Governor Ododo should immediately call them to order and remind them that they met people in the house.
They cannot manufacture enemies for the Governor within the party.
Hon. James Abiodun Faleke, former Governor Yahaya Bello, and Governor Usman Ododo are not just political associates; they are friends and brothers. Let no artificial sojourners create cleavages where none exist.
President Tinubu has never built his political career on intimidation, emotional blackmail, or manufactured panic. His politics has always rested on organisation, strategic thinking, democratic competition, patience, and an unshakable belief in the wisdom of the people.
History confirms this repeatedly. They predicted the collapse of the APC. History disappointed them. They predicted electoral defeat. History embarrassed them. They predicted political extinction. History rewarded perseverance instead.
That is because politics is ultimately decided at the ballot box, not at microphone or press conferences.
Even more revealing are the reactions from many APC members who have openly rejected attempts to portray a narrow factional position as the unanimous voice of Kogi West. Internal debate is healthy in democracy, but political arrogance is not.
It has been said that Rt. Hon. Faleke previously assisted Hon. Alfred Bello’s family during difficult moments, including helping Bello’s daughter secure employment at the Central Bank of Nigeria. These gestures underscore the bitterness surrounding the current disagreement and remind political actors that gratitude remains one of the noblest virtues in public life.
Politics without gratitude quickly degenerates into opportunism.
Politics without memory becomes hypocrisy.
Politics without honour eventually destroys itself.
Rt. Hon. James Abiodun Faleke has consistently demonstrated that politics is fundamentally about service, institution building, and the empowerment of ordinary people rather than the pursuit of temporary applause.
Those who imagine that coordinated press conferences can erase decades of commitment misunderstand both politics and history. History is stubborn. It refuses to forget those who built. It refuses to glorify those who merely arrived when the house was already fully built.
As the APC prepares for future electoral contests, including the 2027 general election, unity must never be confused with submission to intimidation. Genuine reconciliation must be built on mutual respect, justice, inclusion, and recognition of those whose sacrifices laid the foundation upon which others now stand.
The progressive family should resist every attempt to replace democratic engagement with propaganda, or loyalty with convenience. The people of Kogi West know those who stood with them in difficult times. They know those who defended the progressive APC cause when it was unfashionable. They know those whose political investments were made long before victory became fashionable.
History cannot be rewritten by press conferences. Truth cannot be buried beneath propaganda. Character cannot be assassinated by political rhetoric.
The enduring legacy of Rt. Hon. James Abiodun Faleke is written not merely in speeches but in years of service, consistency, courage, and loyalty to the progressive ideals that built the APC. When the noise of today’s politics eventually fades—as it always does—history will remember the builders, not the opportunists; the steadfast, not the fair-weather decampees and converts; the statesmen, not the merchants of political convenience.
That has always been the verdict of history.
And history has never been successfully intimidated.
Hon. Musa Asiru Bakare
Foundational member of APC, political analyst
Writes from Lokoja, Kogi State
June 6, 2026