Kwara Senator Speaks On Support For Tinubu After Dumping APC

The lawmaker representing Kwara Central Senatorial District, Senator Saliu Mustapha, has clarified his position on President Bola Tinubu after defecting from the All Progressives Congress (APC) to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

Mustapha, who recently joined the PDP and secured its senatorial ticket for Kwara Central ahead of the 2027 general elections, said his decision to leave the ruling party was driven by his disagreement with the leadership style of Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq of Kwara State.

Speaking during an interview on Channels Television’s Politics Today, the senator said his defection should not be interpreted as a rejection of Tinubu.

He explained that the move was part of a broader political realignment in Kwara State, which he said had been necessitated by growing dissatisfaction among some APC stakeholders with the governor’s handling of the party.

According to him, the development reflects the “Rainbow Coalition” political arrangement that has emerged ahead of the 2027 elections.

“I haven’t dumped President Tinubu. Like the FCT Minister, Nyesom Wike, said, this Rainbow Coalition has extended to Kwara State,” Mustapha said.

“That is part of what you are seeing, and that is why it was deliberate to have picked the PDP as our platform. It’s not about Saliu Mustapha.”

The senator said members of the G-15, comprising APC governorship aspirants and members of the party’s elders’ caucus in the state, felt alienated by the manner in which AbdulRazaq had managed the APC.

“The G-15 and the elder caucus of the APC in the state felt ‘alienated’ by the way Kwara State Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq has handled the APC in the state,” he said.

Mustapha had formally resigned his APC membership in a letter dated August 14, 2026, addressed to the APC Ward Chairman of Gambari Ward 1 in Ilorin East Local Government Area.

In the resignation letter, the senator said he reached the decision after consultations with his constituents and political stakeholders.

He recalled that he joined the APC as a founding member and remained committed to its principles of good governance, unity and service.

However, he alleged that recent developments within the party in Kwara, particularly under its current leadership, had departed from its founding principles of collective unity and internal democracy.

Mustapha also accused the state party leadership of failing to meet the standards of integrity, competence and accountability which, according to him, should guide political leadership.

“The current leadership of the Party in Kwara State has fallen short of these standards and this has eroded my confidence in them,” he said.

Following his exit from the APC, the senator formally joined the PDP and obtained the party’s nomination form for the Kwara Central senatorial district.

Despite the political switch, Mustapha maintained that he remained committed to representing the people of Kwara Central and serving the interests of the state and the country.

“To my constituents, supporters, political associates and stakeholders in Kwara State and beyond, I assure you that while my political platform may change, my principles, my purpose and my commitment to the people remain unchanged,” Mustapha said.

“I remain steadfast in my service to the people of Kwara Central, Kwara State and Nigeria at large,’’ he said.