By Ayo Kehinde
Speaker of the Kwara State House of Assembly, Yakubu Danladi-Salihu, has emerged as the governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress for the 2027 election after securing a decisive victory in the party’s primary election held across the state on Friday.
Danladi-Salihu polled more than 94,000 votes to defeat Ambassador Abdulfatai Yahya-Seriki, who garnered 41,700 votes, while former Kwara APC Chairman, Bashir Omolaja Bolarinwa, came third with 22,118 votes.
The result was officially announced in Ilorin by Senator Musiliu Obanikoro, Chairman of the Supervisory Committee for the Kwara APC governorship primary election.
The emergence of Danladi-Salihu came amid weeks of intense political manoeuvring, consultations, and internal disagreements within the ruling party over the choice of a successor to Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq.
Fresh confusion had erupted within the Kwara APC barely 24 hours before the primaries after Governor AbdulRazaq reportedly abandoned businessman Ambassador Yahya-Seriki as his preferred successor and returned to backing Danladi-Salihu ahead of the exercise.
The governor’s sudden reversal triggered uncertainty within the APC, particularly among party leaders and aspirants who believed Yahya-Seriki had emerged as AbdulRazaq’s preferred choice following consultations in Lagos involving influential stakeholders within the party.
The decision to dump Yahya-Seriki revived concerns over the governor’s succession strategy and the inability of the Kwara APC leadership to build consensus around a single candidate ahead of the primaries.
Party insiders said the confusion deepened existing divisions within the APC, which had already been battling disagreements over zoning, consensus arrangements, and the political direction of the party ahead of the 2027 governorship election.
The governorship aspirants had earlier boycotted a strategic meeting convened by Governor AbdulRazaq amid suspicions that the gathering was designed to endorse a preferred aspirant.
Out of the 16 aspirants who purchased nomination forms, only Mohammed Dele Belgore (SAN) reportedly attended the controversial meeting held in Ilorin, forcing its postponement.
The governor’s succession calculations also generated controversy after reports that he repeatedly changed his preferred candidate during consultations involving party leaders in Ilorin, Lagos, and Abuja.
Danladi-Salihu, who hails from Kwara North Senatorial District, was initially considered the governor’s preferred aspirant before attention shifted at different times to Yahya-Seriki, former APC Chairman Bashir Bolarinwa, and Senator Saliu Mustapha.
Stakeholders within the party had argued that the APC needed a candidate with a strong electoral appeal capable of confronting the growing influence of former Senate President, Bukola Saraki, whose political structure within the opposition Peoples Democratic Party is said to be regaining momentum ahead of the 2027 elections.
Despite the internal tensions and succession crisis, Danladi-Salihu secured overwhelming support during the primaries, consolidating his position as the APC standard-bearer for the governorship contest.
Party sources described the outcome as a major political victory for Governor AbdulRazaq, whose insistence on producing a successor from Kwara North ultimately prevailed after weeks of uncertainty and resistance from other political blocs within the party.
Political observers, however, believe the APC leadership now faces the challenge of reconciling aggrieved aspirants and uniting various factions ahead of the 2027 governorship election.
Efforts are said to be underway to pacify defeated aspirants and prevent further divisions within the ruling party.
“The primary may have ended, but the bigger task now is rebuilding unity within the APC. The contest was intense, and the leadership understands the need to bring everyone together ahead of the general election,” the source said.
The governorship primary attracted widespread attention because of the unusually high number of aspirants and the strategic importance of Kwara State in the political calculations of both the APC and PDP ahead of the 2027 general elections.
Supporters of Danladi-Salihu celebrated the outcome across parts of Ilorin and other local government areas shortly after the announcement of the results, describing his emergence as a victory for continuity and stability within the ruling party.
Meanwhile, opposition figures within the PDP maintained that the APC primary exposed deep cracks within the ruling party and insisted that the governorship contest in 2027 would remain highly competitive.
