What began as an internal rift has escalated into a full-blown political showdown in Kwara State as the leader of the Kwara APC Elders Caucus, Sir (Dr.) Chief J.B. Ayeni led a high-powered delegation of prominent party figures and public office holders to the APC National Headquarters in Abuja to submit a stinging petition against Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq.
The heavyweight delegation featured some of the most influential political names in the state, including the Executive Secretary/CEO of the National Institute for Cultural Orientation, Otunba Biodun Ajiboye, the Director-General of the National Orientation Agency, Mallam Lanre Issa-Onilu, and the Kwara South APC Zonal Chairman, Elder Hon. Olabanji Olayemi, alongside a vast majority of the state’s party elders and members.
The caucus complained bitterly about Governor AbdulRazaq’s high-handedness, alleging that he has consistently manipulated, intimidated, and completely sidelined them in the running of the party, particularly during the recent congresses and the controversial governorship primary.
The elder statesmen presented what they termed as verifiable evidence proving that the AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq-led administration did not conduct any genuine primary election.
They claimed that the governor simply fabricated fictitious figures to announce the incumbent Speaker of the Kwara State House of Assembly, Rt. Hon. Salihu Yakubu Danladi, as the winner, without any form of baseline consultation with party elders or the general membership. The caucus explicitly warned that if this flawed process is allowed to stand by the national working committee, it will trigger massive anti-party activities, internal rebellion, and catastrophic electoral consequences for the party.
The delegation predicated its current intervention on deep sympathy and love for the APC, pointing out that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu labored too hard for the political emancipation of Kwara State to let it slip away. They recalled how the President invested immense resources and strategy to rescue Kwara from the political stronghold of the Saraki dynasty during the historic Oto Ge movement, warning that a payback to the President should not be in the form of losing the state back to the opposition.
The elders expressed deep worry that after fighting tirelessly to break one dynasty, Kwara APC members are now being forced to witness the emergence of another autocratic dynasty under Governor AbdulRazaq. They claimed that in his seven to eight years at the helm, the governor has never initiated any collective consultation regarding managing the political fallout with the Sarakis, nor has he given party founders any room to contribute meaningfully to the growth of the party.
Detailing their frustrations, the leaders recounted a humiliating experience when they sought an audience with the governor at the Government House in Ilorin to amicably resolve the primary election crisis. The governor allegedly left the revered elders waiting for over three hours, only to abruptly have them turned away with a message that he would not see them. The caucus described the incident as a deeply painful and embarrassing pattern of treatment they have endured under the current administration.
To find a democratic solution, the Kwara APC Elders Caucus concluded a critical, marathon alignment meeting in Abuja on June 18, 2026, with all aggrieved Kwara governorship aspirants totaling 11. Following a grueling cross-examination of the political landscape, the meeting resolved that the governor’s handpicked choice, Speaker Danladi, is structurally unpopular and cannot win a general election in Kwara State under the current political climate.
Consequently, all the governorship aspirants and elders resolved that a credible alternative path must be set, and they bound themselves to an agreement that whoever is democratically chosen or consensus-backed among the true aspirants will receive the total, undivided vote and backing of the entire party structure. The leaders stated that there is no need to waste the resources, effort, and time of party members on an unsellable candidate.
Having laid their grievances before the APC National Chairman, the Senate President, and the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, who is a key national political appointee from Kwara State, the caucus noted that the ultimate survival of the Kwara APC now hinges entirely on how President Bola Ahmed Tinubu handles the matter.