Speaker of the Kwara State House of Assembly, Rt. Hon. Salihu Yakubu Danladi, on Friday, emerged as the governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) after a primary election shaped by intense political intrigues within the ruling party.

Danladi secured 94,990 votes, representing more than 65 per cent of the total ballots cast, to defeat 14 other aspirants in the exercise conducted across the 16 local government areas of the state.

His closest challenger, Ambassador Abdulfatai Yahaya Seriki, polled 41,700 votes, while former APC state chairman, Dr. Bashir Omolaja Bolarinwa (BOB), secured 22,118 votes.

The result was declared at the APC secretariat in Ilorin by the chairman of the APC Governorship Primary Election Committee, Senator Musiliu Obanikoro.

“There is no loser in APC. We are all winners,” Obanikoro said before formally announcing Danladi as winner of the exercise.

Danladi’s emergence capped weeks of political tension within the ruling party over who succeeds Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq in 2027. The succession battle initially revolved around Ambassador Yahaya Seriki and Senator Saliu Mustapha.

Gov Abdulrazaq with his anointed aspirant

However, Governor AbdulRazaq publicly endorsed Seriki as his preferred successor. He said the decision followed “consultations with party leaders and stakeholders across the state”.

But the Ilorin Emirate Political Advisory Council, rejected the governor’s position. The endorsement immediately altered the political atmosphere within the party and triggered fresh alignments among aspirants and stakeholders.

In the days leading to the primary, reports emerged that several aspirants had either stepped down or aligned with the political structure around Seriki as a coordinated attempt to build consensus around the businessman.

However, some of those aspirants mentioned to have stepped down for him like Yahaya Oloriegbe and Prof Wale Sulieman denied. The political equation within the APC shifted dramatically less than 24 hours before the final exercise.

Party insiders said mounting resistance against an alleged predetermined arrangement, concerns over internal backlash and growing agitation from different political blocs forced fresh consultations among influential APC stakeholders.

The pressure became more intense after groups from Kwara South openly rejected attempts to retain the governorship within Kwara Central and demanded a more inclusive political arrangement ahead of 2027.

Thursday’s governorship primary was eventually suspended midway into the process, officially on the grounds of logistics and further consultations among stakeholders.

The man who won the ticket.

But party sources said the postponement was linked to unresolved disagreements among influential blocs within the APC over the succession arrangement and fears that the process could deepen divisions within the party.

Before the rescheduled exercise on Friday, Obanikoro met with aspirants behind closed doors at the APC secretariat in Ilorin, where he assured them of a transparent and credible process.

Although the governor’s body language initially tended towards Kwara North and particularly the speaker, he was reportedly pressured to consider Central over voting considerations.

The turning point came when Danladi, who was later listed as among those cleared for the House of Assembly primary after the hitherto failed governorship primary, suddenly emerged as the new consensus figure among powerful blocs within the party.

The Speaker subsequently received the backing of Governor AbdulRazaq ahead of the rescheduled primary, effectively reshaping the contest and weakening the earlier momentum around Seriki’s ambition.

Danladi eventually dominated the election across the state, according to a government house statement.

All the five local government areas in Kwara North reportedly returned over 90 per cent of their votes in his favour, while he also recorded commanding leads across Kwara Central and Kwara South.

Apart from Seriki and Bolarinwa, Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Dele Belgore and former Senator Yahaya Oloriegbe were also among the notable figures in the race but finished far behind the leading contenders.

According to the results announced by the committee, Engr. Femi Sani polled 5,519 votes, Senator Ibrahim Yahaya Oloriegbe secured 3,910 votes, while Belgore recorded 3,411 votes.

Prof. Wale Suleiman got 2,434 votes, Aishat Ahman-Patigi polled 1,734 votes, while Prof. Abubakar Suleiman secured 1,722 votes. Tajudeen Audu Abdulkadir scored 1,462 votes, Dr. Azeez Salako Muyideen got 1,198 votes, Mohammed Bio secured 1,122 votes, while Dr. Alabi Oluwatoyin polled 1,099 votes.

Yetunde Musliat Adebowale recorded 638 votes, while Ahmad Ibrahim Mahmud polled 362 votes. The fate of Senator Saliu Mustapha also remained unclear at the end of the exercise.

Although there were reports on Friday morning that senator Mustapha was still expected to participate in the governorship primary, his name was conspicuously absent from the final list of aspirants announced by Obanikoro during the declaration of results.

The development immediately triggered fresh speculation within political circles over whether Mustapha had quietly withdrawn from the race as part of last-minute political negotiations or was excluded following internal arrangements within the party.

The senator had earlier been linked with different succession calculations within the APC.

This is especially amid reports that Governor AbdulRazaq may have shelved a purported senatorial ambition to allow Mustapha return to the Senate as part of broader political compromises surrounding the governorship contest due to his strong base and popularity to strengthen the party.

However, no official explanation was provided by the committee regarding his absence from the final declaration.

Danladi’s emergence has now reshaped the political equation within the Kwara APC and positioned the Speaker as the ruling party’s standard bearer ahead of the 2027 governorship election.

Supporters of Danladi erupted in celebration shortly after the declaration, chanting solidarity songs and hailing him as the next political leader of the state. (Daily Trust)

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