Kwara APC elders disagree over gov’ship candidate

Elders within the Kwara State chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) on Monday took opposing positions on the emergence of Yakubu Salihu Danladi, as the party’s governorship candidate for the 2027 election. While one group of elders rejected Danladi’s candidature and called for the intervention of President Bola Tinubu and the national leadership of […]

Elders within the Kwara State chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) on Monday took opposing positions on the emergence of Yakubu Salihu Danladi, as the party’s governorship candidate for the 2027 election.
While one group of elders rejected Danladi’s candidature and called for the intervention of President Bola Tinubu and the national leadership of the party, the other defended the outcome of the governorship primary.
It described the critics as persons not recognised by the APC structure in the state.
The first group, led by its chairman, Chief James Bamisaiye Ayeni, alongside Senators Mohammed Ahmed, Makanju Ajadi and former Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, Salman Jawondo (SAN), said it decided to speak publicly after exhausting internal mechanisms within the party.
According to the caucus, Danladi does not possess the statewide appeal, acceptability and political strength required to unite the APC and confront an increasingly resurgent opposition in the state.
“We do not believe that the purported emergence of Rt. Hon. Yakubu Salihu Danladi as the APC governorship candidate represents the strongest political option available to the party at this critical moment,” the group said.
The elders maintained that their position was not driven by personal grievances but by concerns over the party’s electoral prospects in 2027.
They also accused Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq of failing to provide President Tinubu and the APC national leadership with “an accurate assessment of political realities in the state.
“The future of the APC is too important to be subordinated to the ambitions or the personal ego of the Governor or any other person for that matter,” the caucus stated.
The group further alleged that endorsements and campaigns in support of Danladi’s candidacy were aimed at creating a false impression of widespread acceptance among stakeholders.
It subsequently appealed to President Tinubu, APC National Chairman Prof. Nentawe Goshwe Yilwatda and members of the National Working Committee to review the circumstances surrounding the emergence of the party’s governorship candidate.
However, a rival group, APC Kwara Elders, rejected the position and declared its support for Danladi’s candidature.
The group, which included senior government officials such as the Senior Adviser and Counsellor to the Governor of Kwara State, Sa’adu Salaudeen, the Special Adviser on Media, Bashir Adigun, other senior aides and members of the State House of Assembly, among others, maintained that the governorship primary was valid and reaffirmed Danladi’s emergence as the party’s candidate.
Addressing journalists in Ilorin, the State Coordinator of the Renewed Hope Agenda Ambassadors, Abdullateef Gidado Alakawa, who spoke on behalf of the group, described members of the earlier caucus as “interlopers” not recognised by the party.