Kwara APC Gov Aspirants Reject Speaker's Endorsement

Ten governorship aspirants of the All Progressives Congress in Kwara State have appealed to traditional rulers in the state not to allow themselves to be drawn into partisan politics amid an alleged plot to secure their backing for the Speaker of the State House of Assembly, Yakubu Danladi-Salihu, as the party’s candidate for the 2027 election. The aspirants alleged that there were plans by some individuals to mobilise traditional rulers for a visit to President Bola Tinubu to thank him for allegedly accepting and endorsing Danladi-Salihu’s candidature. They raised the concern during a meeting with the national leadership of the APC held in Abuja on June 17 and 18, according to statement made available to Sunday PUNCH. This was as they dismissed claims that they had agreed to support the Director General of the National Orientation Agency, Mallam Lanre Issa-Onilu, as their preferred candidate, noting that the NOA boss never obtained a nomination form. The governorship aspirants present at the meeting were Dr. Bashir Bolarinwa; Senator Salihu Mustapha, Senator Ibrahim Oloriegbe; Alhaji Tajudeen Audu, Makaman Lafiagi; Dr. Toyin Alabi; Rt. Hon. Mohammed Omar; Dr. Muyideen Salako; Mohammed Belgore, SAN; Abdulfatai Seriki; and Ahmad Mahmud. Related News Sanwo-Olu, Obi, Obasanjo honour Obi of Onitsha at 85 Why the real election begins on January 16 Bolivia declares state of emergency, deploys bulldozers to clear roadblocks Speaking on behalf of the delegation, the Chairman of the Kwara APC Elders Caucus, Chief James Ayeni, said no governorship primary election had been conducted in the state to produce the Speaker as the party’s candidate. He added that the APC had at no time adopted Danladi-Salihu as its consensus governorship candidate. “To the best of our knowledge, the Party has not published the endorsement of any candidate in Kwara State. We would therefore like to caution the planners and masterminds of this desperate attempt not to drag our highly respected Royal Fathers into an intraparty matter and affair. It is a settled fact that Traditional Rulers are Fathers of all, irrespective of political inclination, and they are insulated from partisan political calculations. “Never in the history of our dear state have our Royal Fathers been dragged into the affairs of any political party in particular and participating in politics in general. Therefore, dragging our Royal Fathers into the internal affairs of the APC is a sign of desperation, which is akin to decorating a Trojan Horse. It would be an unprecedented abuse of privileged positions by the planners and schemers of this mindless and inappropriate visit to Mr. President. “Therefore, we would like to appeal to our dignified and respected Traditional Rulers not to allow any person, however highly placed, to drag them and our Traditional Institution into the affairs of political parties or to engage in partisan politics,” they said. Tunde Oyekola