The elders of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Kwara State have reportedly disagreed over the emergence of Yakubu Salihu Danladi as the party’s governorship candidate for the 2027 election.
It was understood that while one group rejected Danladi’s candidature and called for the intervention of President Bola Tinubu and the national leadership of the party, another group defended the outcome of the governorship primary and insisted that Danladi remains the party’s candidate.
The dispute has also laid bare divisions within the ruling party in the state ahead of the 2027 governorship race.
The first group, reportedly led by its chairman, Chief James Bamisaiye Ayeni, said it decided to speak out publicly after exhausting internal mechanisms within the party.
Other members of the caucus were Senators Mohammed Ahmed and Makanju Ajadi and a former Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice in the state, Salman Jawondo, SAN.
Daily Trust reports that the elders argued that Danladi lacked the statewide appeal, acceptability and political strength to unify the party and face a fast resurgent opposition in Kwara State.
“We do not believe that the purported emergence of Rt. Hon. Yakubu Salihu Danladi as the APC governorship candidate is the strongest political option available to the party at this critical moment,” the group said.
They said their position was not borne out of personal grudges but out of concerns for the electoral chances of the APC in the next governorship election.
The caucus also accused Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq of not giving President Tinubu and the APC national leadership what it called “an accurate assessment of political realities in the state.”
The elders warned against the tying the future of the party in Kwara to personal interest or political ego.
“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 said.
They also alleged that endorsements and campaigns in support of Danladi’s candidature were being used to create a false impression that he enjoyed widespread acceptance among party stakeholders.
The group called on President Tinubu, the APC National Chairman, Prof. Nentawe Goshwe Yilwatda and members of the National Working Committee to re-examine the circumstances that led to Danladi’s emergence as the party’s governorship candidate.
However, another group, APC Kwara Elders, rejected Ayeni’s caucus position and declared support for Danladi’s candidature.
The group insisted that the governorship primary was valid and reaffirmed Danladi’s emergence as the party’s candidate for the 2027 election.
The group included the Senior Adviser and Counsellor to the Governor of Kwara State, Sa’adu Salaudeen, Special Adviser on Media, Bashir Adigun, other senior aides and members of the State House of Assembly, who are senior government officials.
The State Coordinator of the Renewed Hope Agenda Ambassadors, Abdullateef Gidado Alakawa, told journalists in Ilorin that the members of the opposing caucus are not recognized by the APC structure in the state.
Alakawa said the critics of Danladi’s candidature were “interlopers” who had no right to speak for the party in Kwara State.
He said the recognised structure of the party had spoken on the governorship primary and that any attempt to discredit the process would not stand.
The group said Danladi’s emergence was through due process and was acceptable to members of the party who joined in the internal democratic process.
It also called on party members to ignore what it described as efforts to create unnecessary tension within the APC.
The disagreement is surfacing as political activities gradually gain momentum ahead of the 2027 general elections.
Danladi, a former Speaker of the Kwara State House of Assembly, is being touted by his supporters as the party’s candidate to retain power in the state.
However, the public opposition from some elders has raised fresh doubts over internal cohesion within the ruling party and the level of consensus around his candidature.
But both camps maintained that their stand was for the good of the APC ahead of the next governorship election.
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