Senator Salihu Mustapha, representing Kwara Central Senatorial District, has resigned his membership of the All Progressives Congress (APC).
Mustapha, one of the 15 aggrieved governorship aspirants following the party’s May 2026 governorship primary in Kwara State, announced his resignation after weeks of consultations with political stakeholders, supporters and constituents across the senatorial district and the state.
Although he has not officially announced his defection to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), a photograph purportedly showing a PDP Kwara Central senatorial nomination ticket bearing his name is already in circulation.
In a statement announcing his resignation, Mustapha said recent developments within the APC in Kwara had prompted him to reconsider his political direction.
He said he did not take the decision lightly, adding that politics should be driven by ‘people, principles and purpose’.
Mustapha said it had become necessary to chart a new course when a political platform no longer sufficiently aligned with those convictions and the aspirations of the people.
He thanked the APC leadership under President Bola Ahmed Tinubu for the relationships and experiences he gained during his years in the party.
The senator, however, assured his constituents, supporters and political associates that while his political platform might change, his principles 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,’ he said.
Reacting to the development, the Kwara State chapter of the PDP described Mustapha’s resignation as a ‘devastating confirmation’ that Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq had failed both his party and the people of the state.
In a statement by its Publicity Secretary, Olusegun Olusola Adewara, the PDP said the resignation of a serving senator and founding APC figure had exposed what it described as the deepening crisis within the ruling party in the state.
The opposition party accused AbdulRazaq of relying on ‘propaganda, social media optics and image laundering’ to conceal the alleged leadership crisis in the APC.
It described the party as a ‘runaway car heading to doom, yet being controlled by a blind and deaf driver.’