APC Elders Express Support For Kwara Guber Candidate

All Progressives Congress (APC) Kwara Elders yesterday threw their weight behind the candidature of the party’s gubernatorial candidate, Engr. Yakubu Danladi- Salihu.

The party elders, at a press conference in Ilorin, the state capital, assured President Bola Tinubu and the national leadership of the APC that Danladi Salihu enjoys the popular support of the state’s people, especially the youth.

The forum was responding to the earlier press conference by the Chief James Bamisaiye-led APC Elders Caucus, which condemned the selection of Danladi-Salihu as the party’s gubernatorial candidate.

They said the APC candidate does not represent the party’s strongest political option to win next year’s gubernatorial race.

The elders warned that unless President Bola Tinubu and the national leadership of the party wade into the raging crisis arising from the Danladi-Salihu candidature, the party may lose Kwara State to the opposition.

But, the APC Kwara Elders at a press conference addressed by the state coordinator of the Renewed Hope Agenda Ambassadors, Hon. AbdulLateef Gidado Alakawa, said: “To say the least, those who addressed that conference are interlopers who are not recognised by the APC structure in the state.

“We shouldn’t have dignified the claims of these interlopers who called themselves elders of our great party, the APC, by this response, but there is a need to put a lie to their fathomless claims.

“The general public is aware of the fact that our party held its primaries for all the elective offices, including the governorship ticket, in a peaceful atmosphere. The results of the governorship primary were announced by the chairman of the panel sent from Abuja to conduct the exercise, Hon. Musiliu Obanikoro, in the presence of all loyal party members at the Banquet Hall along Ahmadu Bello Way, Horin.

“The governorship primary that was held on 22 May 2026 produced the incumbent speaker of the state House of Representatives, Rt. Hon. Yakubu Danladi Salihu is the winner. Since that time, none of the other gubernatorial aspirants has raised a complaint on the outcome of the exercise. And as a team player, the APC gubernatorial candidate has since extended the hands of fellowship to his cocontestants.

“Not only this, Hon. Danladi has embarked on a tour of the residences of key stakeholders in the affairs of our dear state, including our traditional rulers, who have all blessed him, assured him of their support and prayed for his victory at the polls come 2027.

“The credentials of Danladi – Salihu are in the public domain. Apart from being an engineer, he has gained significant political experience as the state’s number three citizen over the last seven years. Our candidate is also a youth who enjoys the support of a mammoth youth population.

“On the so-called elders’ disparaging comments on our leader, Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq, we want to clarify that the governor did not impose any gubernatorial candidates on the party. The governor allowed a free contest in the gubernatorial primary, even though he was not directly responsible for its conduct. He, as a democrat, only accepted the outcome of the exercise, which was adjudged peaceful, free and fair by those who supervised it.

“Declaring the result of the gubernatorial primary, the chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC) Supervisory Committee of Kwara State Governorship Primary, Senator Musliu Obanikoro, said Danladi Salihu scored 94,990 votes to beat the other eight aspirants that participated in the exercise.

“We recall that key contenders, including Amb. Yahaya Seriki had earlier mobilised support for Danladi Salihu in a show of solidarity. All five local government areas in the North returned more than 90% of their votes in favour of Danladi Salihu, while he also led comfortably across the two other senatorial districts. In the Southern District, Offa, Oyun, Irepodun, Ekiti, Isin, Oke Ero, and Ifelodun stood firmly behind the Speaker, underscoring his support base across the state.

“The above illustration showed that Danladi – Salihu won the gubernatorial primary convincingly. What we expected of the so-called elders is to join hands with our governor and other stakeholders to ensure the victory of our governorship candidate and all other APC candidates at the polls.

The conduct of these elders has shown that they are not patriotic members of the APC and do not have our dear Kwara State’s best interests at heart. We hold the opinion that every well-meaning party man will pray for a successor who will continue the good work of the administration of Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq. ”

“We want to assure His Excellency, President Ahmed Bola Tinubu, that Kwara is an APC state and in shaa Allahu, the governor and all other genuine stakeholders will deliver the state, once again, to the APC come 2027. ”

Alakawa was flanked by the coordinator of the Kwara Central APC Elders Caucus, Alh Razaq Lawal and a chieftain of the party, Alh Usman Bibire Ajape, amongst others.