Kwara APC Crisis Deepens As Chieftain Backs Danladi’s Governorship Ticket

A public affairs analyst and chieftain of the All Progressives Congress in Kwara State, Musa Idris Buko, has supported the emergence of the Speaker of the Kwara State House of Assembly, Salihu Yakubu-Danladi, as the party’s governorship candidate for the 2027 election.

Buko, who was speaking on Arise Television’s The Morning Show, dismissed the notion that the state had entered a “mourning period” following the emergence of Danladi, insisting that the result of the primary was an expression of a broader call for political inclusion, fairness and justice.

Dandladi’s emergence has reportedly divided elders and stakeholders in the Kwara APC with one side endorsing his candidacy and defending Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq against allegations of imposition while another caucus rejected the process as flawed and lacking legitimacy.

Last week, the APC chieftain in the state, AbdulMajid Abdullahi, featured in the same programme where he criticised the outcome of the primary and raised concerns about the internal process that produced Danladi.

“Kwara North is being marginalised.

Buko said during the interview that the agitation for Kwara North to produce the next governor was rooted in the political history of the state.

He said Kwara State was created in 1967 and has three senatorial districts, Kwara Central, Kwara North and Kwara South but Kwara North has largely been shut out of the governorship seat.

“Kwara Central senatorial district had the seat of governorship for over 19 years now to be completed 20 years in 2027 and Kwara South senatorial district has had the opportunity for eight years,” he said.

“Kwara North senatorial district, which is the second largest demography in Kwara State, the largest landmass in Kwara State and the economic backbone of Kwara State, has not had the opportunity to be governor.

Buko added that the district had only managed to produce a governor for some 22 months before a military coup cut short the administration.

He said the call for power shift to Kwara North was a “people’s movement’’ supported by political actors, traditional rulers, artisans and stakeholders across the state and not partisan politics.

The Buko APC primary was a democratic

The APC chieftain said the primary held on May 22 produced a clear winner following what he described as a democratic process.

According to him, there are four types of people who react negatively to the exercise.

He said the first group is the supporters of “One Kwara Project 2027” who believe that Kwara belongs to all its people and that political inclusion is necessary.

The second group, he said, were the “sectional supremacists” who want one part of the state to continue to dominate political power, while the third group, he said, were the “gerontocrats” who believe that everything should be aligned to their choices.

And the fourth group, he added, is the “rocking the boat mindset.”

“Then everything should go to hell if it is not me”, Buko said. The majority of the Kwarans in the three senatorial districts are happy and glad.”

He also lauded President Bola Tinubu, the APC leadership and Governor AbdulRazaq for what he called democratic inclusion for a “critically marginalised” part of the state.

“It is not true that Kwara is in mourning mode. “The people that are mourning now are the kind of people I told you about,” he said.

Aggrieved aspirants told to respect party supremacy

Amid the division, Buko called on aggrieved stakeholders to accept party supremacy and strive for unity ahead of the 2027 election.

“The way forward is to accept party supremacy, to know that the person that emerged, somebody must emerge. We cannot all have a position.

“We have 35 elective positions in Kwara State and we have over 160 aspirants,” he stated.

He urged the President, the governor and the national leadership of the APC to intervene and reconcile the aggrieved members, stressing that the party still needed all hands on deck going into the election.

“Kwara is ours and the result is for the interest of the inclusiveness, strategic sustainable development of every nook and cranny of Kwara,” Buko added.

“It is in line with the principles of equity, fairness and justice”.

He also talked about Danladi’s ascent being a generational change, saying the Speaker is “just 41 years old.

Danladi’s mass appeal’

In response to allegations that Danladi has no statewide appeal and that the primary was an imposition, Buko dismissed the allegations.

He said that petitions and complaints after elections were normal in politics but added that the process that produced Danladi was democratic.

“There is no time an election is held in this country that there are no petitions at electoral tribunals. This is a natural phenomenon.

I want to believe that there are some demands from these stakeholders. They also want to be recognized and get some recognition. “So I will appeal to the President and the governor of Kwara State to carry them along.”

However Buko accused some critics of trying to destabilise the party because their choice of aspirant did not emerge.

He said: “Danladi enjoys the support of the grassroots and electoral value and has shown political strength in past elections.

“The popularity, electoral value and grassroots rootedness of this candidate is undeniable,” he said. He is down to earth, accessible and has learnt the rudiment of governance and politics in the last seven years.

APC leader calls for joint action against insecurity

The interview also discussed the insecurity in Kwara State and one of the interviewers asked why party leaders were talking more about politics than security challenges in the state.

Buko said insecurity in the state was caused by a number of factors, including landmass, international borders, national parks and wider global security concerns.

“There are a lot of factors,” he said. I can enumerate up to 20 factors. We have the world war factor. We have the enormous landmass factor. We have the international border problem. We have factors for the national parks.

He said the federal and state governments were already working on the issue, but stressed that security issues needed strategic handling and collective action.

“It requires the concerted efforts of the federal government, the state government, the executive arms of government, the legislative arms of government, the judicial arms of government, the media and every responsible and patriotic citizen of Nigeria,” he said.

“Security issues are not always issues that can be discussed openly in the same way as politics,” Buko said.

“Security issues are very strategic. You don’t come out in public and be saying it,” he said.