NEWS
Tragedy as Kogi APC Chairman Slumps, Dies During Peace Meeting
A peace and reconciliation meeting aimed at healing political divisions within the All Progressives Congress in Kogi State ended in tragedy on Friday following the sudden death of the party’s Ijumu Local Government Area chairman, Oyewole Mayowa Solomon.
Solomon reportedly slumped during the crucial meeting at the Iyara Town Hall, the administrative headquarters of Ijumu Local Government Area, sending shockwaves through party leaders, political stakeholders and other participants gathered for the reconciliation exercise.
Efforts were immediately made to save him as those present administered first aid before he was rushed to a medical facility in neighbouring Kabba. However, the APC chairman was pronounced dead shortly after arriving at the hospital.
The exact cause of his sudden death had yet to be ascertained at the time of filing the report.
The meeting where the tragedy occurred had been convened as part of a wider effort to restore unity and resolve lingering political disagreements within the party in Ijumu Local Government Area.
The reconciliation process was being coordinated by Funsho Olumoko, a former chairman of the local government area who was recently given the responsibility by the Ijumu Consultative Forum to harmonise political interests and bring different groups within the political structure together.
Friday’s gathering was expected to serve as a major turning point in efforts to settle internal disputes, reconcile aggrieved stakeholders and strengthen the APC ahead of future political activities.
The peace initiative followed an earlier meeting in Iyara where party stakeholders had endorsed President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and Kogi State Governor Ahmed Usman Ododo for second terms.
However, the earlier political gathering was overshadowed by disagreements surrounding leadership at the local government level. The tension reportedly resulted in Solomon and several top government functionaries staging a walkout from the meeting.
With divisions still unresolved, Friday’s follow-up meeting was organised to close the gap between the opposing interests and build a united political front across Ijumu.
The gathering brought together selected political leaders, local government and ward executives, women and youth leaders, as well as government appointees representing all 15 wards in Ijumu Local Government Area.
But what was meant to be a meeting of reconciliation and renewed unity suddenly turned into a moment of grief with the collapse and eventual death of the party chairman.
Solomon’s death has thrown the ongoing efforts to unite the APC in Ijumu and the wider Kogi West political structure into uncertainty, particularly as political stakeholders begin to position themselves ahead of the 2027 general elections.
As of the time of filing this report, neither the Kogi State chapter of the APC nor the relevant local authorities had issued a formal statement on the tragic development.
The sudden loss of Solomon has left the party mourning while raising fresh questions about the future of the reconciliation process he was expected to be part of in Ijumu Local Government Area.