The primaries that threw up the current All Progressives Congress (APC) candidates in Kwara State at all levels were dogged by internal crises within the party.
Indeed, many of the aspirants have accused Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq of imposition. They argued that no primary took place in the state on May 22. The aggrieved chieftains who lost out are protesting.
This has been generating a lot of bad blood between the governor and some 15 governorship aspirants. The aspirants argued that the anointed governorship candidate, Mallam AbdulRazaq, and the Speaker of the Kwara State House of Assembly, Yakubu Danladi Salihu, did not emerge through a fair and transparent process. But, the governor disagreed, saying that Danladi was properly elected.
Accordingly, the aggrieved governorship aspirants, who include senators representing Kwara Central, Kwara North, and Kwara South-Mallam Salihu Mustapha, Sodiq Suleiman Umar, and Oyelola Yisa Ashiru-formed the G-15 in the APC.
Thereafter, the party leadership set up a five-member reconciliation committee headed by Col. AbdulWahab Lawal (rtd.).
The APC Elders’ Caucus, and aspirants resolved to overwhelmingly vote for the return of President Bola Tinubu in the 2027 general election. They assured that President Tinubu’s votes in Kwara State would outpace those of 2023.
The G15 said this while announcing a name change to The Otoge Progressives (TOP) at a town hall engagement with critical stakeholders. A motion by Mustapha, reaffirmed the stakeholders’ vote of confidence in President Tinubu and endorsed his re-election for a second term in 2027. The motion received overwhelming support from participants.
Also, in a voice affirmation by the group and their the governorship aspirants said: ‘President Tinubu will get maximum support. We solemnly support President Tinubu’s return in 2027. We will vote for his re-election. We affirm our resolve to support his return in 2027.
‘However, we will never vote for all the Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq-backed candidates at all levels.’
At the meeting were Mustapha; Senator Yahaya Oloriegbe; Senator Sodiq Umar; Senator Lola Ashiru; Mr. Dele Belgore (SAN); Yahaya Seriki-Gambari (represented); Bashir Omolaja Bolarinwa (represented); Bio Umar; Alhaji Tajudeen AbdulKadir Audu; Senator Ajadi Makanjuola; Senator Ahmed Ahmed; Senator Bisi Oyewo; Adamu Manko; Ahmed Abubakar Ndakene; Captain Ahmad Mahmud; Hon. James Kolo; Hon. Yinka Aluko; Razak Owolabi; Jimoh Abdulrahman Alapata;
Others include Chief James Bamisaiye Ayenioye, Alhaji Baba Olosasa, Alhaji Baba Adefalu, Salman Jawondo, SAN, Dr Yakub Yahaya Oloriegbe; Lt. Col. Abubakar Edun (rtd.), and Mallam Adebayo Abdullateef Oloyin. It also includes party elders across the state, former public officeholders, women leaders, and youth leaders.
Spokesperson of the group, Dr Oloriegbe, said: ‘We shall continue to reject the arrangement promoted by Governor AbdulRazaq through lawful, peaceful, and democratic means. We shall remain open to all legitimate political groups necessary to defend our members’ interests and advance the aspirations of the people of the state.
‘We call on the national leadership of APC to take the concerns of the party members in the state seriously. Through the unity, sacrifice, and collective resolve of the people, the APC became the dominant political force in the state, with victory at every level in the 2027 elections firmly within reach.
‘The unilateral decision of one individual has gravely undermined that prospect. Unless the present arrangement is reconsidered and the widespread dissatisfaction among party members genuinely addressed, the party’s unity and electoral success can no longer be assured.’
About three weeks ago, the reconciliation committee submitted its report to the APC working committee. On July 3, 2026, the party set up the five-member committee.
Presenting the report at the party’s secretariat in Ilorin, Col. Lawal thanked the governor and the party executives for their trust and for giving them an enabling environment to operate.
He said the committee had invited all aggrieved members in the course of its findings and provided them with a level playing field to ventilate their grievances-a step he noted aided its work.
Col. Lawal said that the committee, however, got assurances from the members to remain in the party and to ‘not go back to Egypt.’
‘I want to say that on the mandate given to us, we received the blessings of the governor, and the party chairman made it clear to us that ‘please allow everybody to vent their anger and sentiments and also do what is needful,” he said, adding that the report will go a long way to resolving the disagreement.
He stressed: ‘We made it clear to them that this is a family affair; no one is outside the family. All of us are together and in a family. But there are bound to be disagreements, and therefore they should see us as mediators.’
The Kwara APC Chairman, Prince Sunday Fagbemi, thanked the committee for its ‘thankless’ effort and pledged that the state leadership of the party will do everything humanly possible to ensure justice is done to the report.
He described Col. Lawal as highly disciplined and a diplomat per excellence, adding that all members of the committee are people of integrity.
‘When we go through the report of the committee, we will do all that is humanly possible to make sure we remain as a family. We are appealing to all that are aggrieved to await the actions that will be taken after the presentation of the committee’s report,’ Fagbemi said.
Its voice group, known as Kwara Agenda for Asiwaju (KWAGA), said the topmost priority of the APC leadership should be the stability and reconciliation of aggrieved members ahead of the 2027 general elections.
Many believe that the choice of Danladi fulfilled the agitation for zoning to the North Senatorial District.
The Director-General of KWAGA, Yusuf Erubu, said that ‘at this point, the priority should be the progress and stability of the APC in Kwara State.
‘Personal differences and internal disagreements should not be allowed to overshadow the larger responsibility of strengthening the party ahead of the 2027 election. It is time for all hands to be on deck to support the party and rally behind its APC governorship candidate, Salihu Yakubu Danladi.
‘This is why reconciliation must move beyond formal committee meetings; it must be reflected in genuine conversations, mutual respect, forgiveness, accommodations, and the willingness of every stakeholder to look beyond personal disappointment towards the larger future of the state.
‘The responsibility for healing does not rest on the aggrieved alone. It is equally incumbent upon the leadership and the candidate, Salihu Yakubu Danladi, to continue extending the hand of fellowship, recognising the contributions of every aspirant, and building an inclusive campaign that reflects the diversity of talents within the APC family.
Victory becomes more meaningful when everyone has a stake in it.
‘The task before every loyal member of the APC is no longer to revisit yesterday’s contest but to prepare for tomorrow’s election.
Let no temporary disagreement weaken years of collective sacrifice; let no personal hurt overshadow the larger mission of sustaining peace, stability, and development in the state.’
Unfortunately, last week’s defection of Senator Mustapha to the opposition People’s Democratic Party (PDP) seems to have thrown spanners in the works of all the peace moves by the APC leaders.
The senator had since then been offered the Kwara Central senatorial nomination form. In other words, he is set to slug it out with Governor AbdulRazaq at the poll for the Kwara Central.
Before Senator Mustapha’s defection, one of his aides, Abdulkareem Alabi, said the reconciliation exercise could not work.
Alabi, a lawyer, described it as kangaroo, asking, ‘How can the cause of a problem set up a committee, and will it work? How can you be a judge in your own case?’
Less than 24 hours later, the senator called it quits with the APC, a party he is a founding member of.
Senator representing the Kwara Central district, Salihu Mustapha, has quit the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).
Though the philanthropist-turned senator has not officially defected to PDP, a photograph displaying a PDP Kwara Central senatorial nomination ticket for the 2027 National Assembly election is in the public domain.
Announcing his resignation from APC, he said the decision followed weeks of extensive consultations with political stakeholders, supporters, and constituents across Kwara Central and other well-meaning Kwarans
The senator said he did not take the decision lightly, explaining that recent developments within the APC in Kwara State had prompted him to reconsider his political direction.
According to him, politics should be driven by people, principles, and purpose, and he stressed that it becomes necessary to chart a new course when a political platform no longer sufficiently aligns with those convictions and the people’s aspirations.
Mustapha expressed appreciation to the APC leadership under President Bola Ahmed Tinubu for the relationships and experiences he had gained during his years in the party.
He, however, assured his constituents, supporters, political associates, and stakeholders that although his political platform may change, his principles, purpose, and commitment to the people would remain unchanged.
‘I remain steadfast in my service to the people of Kwara Central, Kwara State, and Nigeria at large,’ the senator said.
The PDP described the resignation of Senator Saliu Mustapha as a devastating confirmation that Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq has failed both his party and the people of Kwara State.
In a reaction, PDP Publicity Secretary Olusegun Olusola Adewara said the exit of such a prominent serving senator, founding APC figure, and respected traditional title holder from the ruling party has further exposed the deepening crisis and leadership failure that Governor AbdulRazaq can no longer conceal with propaganda, social media optics, and image laundering, noting that the APC in Kwara can now be perfectly described as a ‘runaway car heading to doom, yet being controlled by a blind and deaf driver.’