Published by Oravbiere Osayomore Promise.
In a dramatic last-minute reversal less than 24 hours before the scheduled APC governorship primary, Kwara State Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq has reportedly abandoned his initial endorsement of Ambassador Abdulfatai Yahaya Seriki and announced the Speaker of the State House of Assembly, Rt. Hon. Yakubu Danladi-Salihu, as his preferred successor for the 2027 election. The development came after a high-stakes strategic meeting on Wednesday evening, where the governor and his team had to navigate a complex political maze, ultimately leading to Seriki's withdrawal and the Speaker's anointment.
The political whiplash began when Governor AbdulRazaq, in a personally signed statement on Tuesday, May 19, 2026, publicly endorsed Seriki as his preferred successor. He described the businessman as “young, pro-people, astute, and broad-minded,” emphasizing his capacity to consolidate the administration’s gains. However, the endorsement was met with widespread resistance from other aspirants and party stakeholders who accused the governor of attempting to impose a “political greenhorn” with no prior electoral experience. Most of the 16 aspirants boycotted a strategic meeting convened by the governor, and the Ilorin Emirate Political Advisory Council openly rejected the choice, warning against an “attempt to impose a successor.” The brewing rebellion culminated in a dramatic u-turn on Wednesday, May 20.
According to multiple news reports, a strategic meeting was convened on Wednesday evening with Seriki and other stakeholders. The gathering, initially intended to solidify support behind Seriki, resulted in a stunning reversal. By the end of the meeting, Seriki had stepped down from the race. Following this, the governor’s camp quickly shifted its backing to Speaker Danladi-Salihu, a pharmacist and lawmaker from Kwara North who has long been seen as a major contender. The Speaker, who had earlier expressed his own ambition and has the backing of a coalition of support groups, was now thrust into the position of the governor’s chosen candidate.
The realignment saw a massive consolidation of support. Shortly after the meeting, eight of the 16 governorship aspirants withdrew from the race and declared support for Seriki, a move that was intended to foster unity. Ironically, Seriki himself was now out of the race, and the consensus quickly formed around Speaker Danladi-Salihu, who was one of the eight aspirants that had stepped down for Seriki. Those who withdrew included heavyweights such as Senator Ibrahim Oloriegbe, Professor Wale Sulaiman, Dr Mohammed Bio, and notably, Speaker Yakubu Danladi-Salihu. The meeting was said to have ended with a commitment to party unity, peaceful conduct of the primary, and continuity of the AbdulRazaq administration’s programmes. A party insider described the mood: “It became clear that Seriki did not have the required support. To avoid a chaotic primary that could embarrass the governor and the party, a back-up plan was activated, and Danladi-Salihu was the only figure capable of uniting the factions.”
This political maneuvering directly contributed to the postponement of the APC governorship primary, which had been scheduled for Thursday, May 21, 2026. The APC National Working Committee (NWC) ordered the shift to Friday, May 22, 2026, citing logistical issues. However, analysts viewed the delay as a tactical move to allow the party leadership to manage the growing internal tensions and formalize the new consensus around Speaker Danladi-Salihu. The Kwarang, a news platform, reported that the primary election could not hold as planned because the party was unable to distribute election materials, a sign of the disarray caused by the last-minute change.
The emergence of Speaker Danladi-Salihu as the new preferred candidate is a masterstroke in political zoning. Danladi-Salihu is from the Kwara North Senatorial District, a zone that has never produced a democratically elected governor since Nigeria’s return to democracy in 1999. This appeal to “equity and fairness” has been a central plank of his campaign, and his nomination is seen as a bid to balance the political equation after Governor AbdulRazaq, from Kwara Central, completes his two terms in 2027. The decision is likely to placate agitators from the northern part of the state who have long cried out for marginalization.
The sudden shift also lays bare the deepening rivalry between Governor AbdulRazaq and Senator Saliu Mustapha, a prominent APC chieftain who is also contesting the governorship ticket. The rivalry between the two leaders had become increasingly bitter, with the governor’s camp allegedly working to edge out Senator Mustapha. The endorsement of Danladi-Salihu, and the withdrawal of Seriki, is widely seen as the governor’s calculated move to outmaneuver the influential Senator and present a united front. Senator Mustapha, however, remains in the race, setting up a potentially explosive primary between him and the governor’s anointed candidate, Speaker Danladi-Salihu.
As of Friday, May 22, 2026, the rescheduled primary is set to proceed. The question on everyone’s lips is whether the new consensus candidate, Speaker Yakubu Danladi-Salihu, can withstand the challenge from Senator Saliu Mustapha and others, or whether the last-minute change of guard has only deepened the cracks within the Kwara APC.
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