Kwara APC crisis deepens as chieftain faults primary that produced Speaker as candidate

Mr. Abdulmajeed Abdullahi, convener of the Legacy 2027 group, has questioned the process that produced Rt. Hon. Yakubu Danladi, Speaker of the Kwara House of Assembly, as the governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC).

Speaking on The Morning Show, an Arise Television programme, Abdullahi said concerns among party members stem from the conduct of the primary election rather than opposition to any particular aspirant.

His words: “The situation in Kwara currently, within the folds in the ranks of those leading the APC, is not the question of which candidate was declared or who is the preferred candidate of any of the groups or stakeholders in the state.

“The question is about the political character or democratic principle upon which the state succession is being determined.”

According to Abdullahi, Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq had earlier endorsed AbdulFatai Yahaya Seriki Gambari as his preferred successor.

He said the endorsement was based on Gambari’s contributions to the party, investments in the state and support for the APC.

Abdullahi added that several aspirants subsequently stepped down in what many party members viewed as a consensus arrangement.

However, he said the APC later opted to conduct a primary election across the state. According to him, voting commenced on May 21 and collation was underway when the exercise was suspended. He said party members were directed to return the following day to conclude the process.

Abdullahi said stakeholders were later invited to a meeting at the Banquet Hall in Ilorin, where the primary committee led by Senator Musiliu Obanikoro announced Danladi as the winner.

“The question that aggrieved the minds of the people was: where did the votes upon which the said candidate was declared winner come from?” he queried.

Abdullahi said Gambari’s emergence had initially generated excitement among party members and residents because of his longstanding philanthropic activities and connection with communities across the state.

He said Danladi’s emergence was, however, greeted with disappointment by some stakeholders, stressing that the concerns being raised should not be interpreted as a personal attack on the APC candidate.

He said some political leaders were worried that the APC was beginning to replicate the same practices the “O to ge” movement opposed before the 2019 election.

Abdullahi urged the party leadership to ensure that the wishes of members are respected and that confidence in the APC’s internal democratic processes is preserved.