The primaries for the gubernatorial ticket of theAll Progressives Congress (APC) is barely two months away.
In the last one week, the game has thickened with more and more aspirants staking a claim to being the most deserving to fly the flag of the ruling party in Kwara State.
Debates and consultations are observed to be ongoing, with aspirants revving networks and forming strategic alliances within the state and in Abuja.
This new development comes about eight years after the historic O’to ge in the state. Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq, who will be completing his second term, declared a fortnight ago that he had no annointed candidate.
Political watchers believe this has raised the stakes and deepened fierce competition for the Ahmadu Bello House.
At least five aspirants have indicated interest across the three senatorial districts in the state.
But based on careful studies and analysis of the public engagement, political weight, and internal power relations, who are the most popular aspirants for Kwara APC gubernatorial ticket?
Sadiq Suleiman Umar
Senator Sadiq Suleiman represents Kwara North in the 10th assembly.
He is one of the two foremost aspirants from Kwara North pushing for zoning of APC ticket gubernatorial ticket to their region.
The zone has not produced a governor since 1999.
Due to many of his initiatives, he enjoys support from the stakeholders in the party and at the grassroots level. He is adjudged to have done well in the senate in the last eight years.
However, the Governor does not seem keen on Umar as his successor due to seemingly rocky personal relationship, and it is feared it may not augur well for the smooth transition of power the party desires.
Political watchers also believe that Kwara North senatorial district lacks the numbers that would give the party victory in the general elections.
Example is given of how the opposition PDP zoned their ticket there in 2023 and lost miserably. The temperate majority believe that the party needs a candidate that can navigate the internal dynamics of the APC and secure a statewide appeal beyond his district in the elections.
Prof. Abubakar Olanrewaju Sulaiman
Prof. Abubakar Sulaiman, popularly known as Amana, is the current Director General of the National Institute of Legislative and Democratic Studies (NILDS). He is from the Kwara Central region and has previously served as Minister of National Planning during the administration of former President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan.
Lately, his billboards have been placed at strategic points in the state capital, and he has also made various promotional videos touting himself as the best candidate for the governorship seat after the tenure of Governor AbdulRazaq.
But critics have also argued that Amana’s consistent shifting allegiance is his greatest undoing. He once fought against the Saraki establishment, joined them, and is now against them. Prof. Sulaiman joined APC in 2024, a year after the Saraki dynasty lost all elective seats in Kwara. Some stakeholders interpret this behaviour as inconsistency and unreliability, raising suspicions and eyebrows among the political elite and APC leaders in the state.
Lanre Issa-Onilu
A new entrant, but he is arguably the most discussed aspirant since the news broke that he may be contesting. Onilu is former national publicity secretary of APC and current director general of national orientation agency, where he is lauded to have turned around the agency for good within two years.
He is widely adjudged to be an experienced administrator and consummate political strategist.
Apart from having a positive relationship with the Governor, Onilu enjoys a bipartisan stakeholders’ appeal and has real electoral value, with an extensive network of significant political associates across the state and country.
He is also from Kwara Central, the biggest and most populous zone.
Critics say he is quiet, which makes him largely underrated, but majority thinks he ticks all the boxes if he could get the nod of the party leadership and will deepen progressive governance in Kwara.
Saliu Mustapha
Also being considered in the guber race is Saliu Mustapha, Senator representing Kwara Central Senatorial District. Although he has not formally declared his ambition, his close aides have made comments suggestive of an interest in the top seat. Promotional articles and graphics in his name have also dominated the social media space.
Mustapha holds the traditional title of Turaki in Ilorin Emirate and is Chairman of Senate Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development.
Mustapha was handed the senatorial ticket of APC in the last election taking over from Senator Ibrahim Yahaya Oloriegbe.
Three years after, Saliu has fallen out badly with AbdulRazaq due to perceived disloyalty and anti-party tendencies. He was seen hobnobbing with PDP leader Bukola Saraki, an arch-rival of AbdulRazaq. Though both the Senator and the Governor are said to be rebuilding their relationship, stakeholders believe it is just for the optics, which highlights the deep suspicion for Mustapha within the party ranks.
Left to AbdulRazaq and Kwara APC leaders, Saliu Mustapha is the least person to gain their support for the guber ticket. However, the Senator is banking on his close relationship with Senate President Godswill Akpabio and other associates in Abuja.
Yahaya Seriki Gambari
A mining business mogul, Gambari is giving a serious run for the ticket.
Also from Kwara Central, he was recently appointed the North Central coordinator of the City Boys Movement. He is a close ally of the Governor.
Yahaya has a deep pocket. But his capacity and experience is largely considered to be suspect for the top job. There has also been a strong criticism of the kind of ‘money politics’ he is re-introducing to Kwara.
Engr. Yakubu Danladi-Salihu
Currently Speaker of the Kwara State House of Assembly, Yakubu Danladi-Salihu is yet to officially declare his ambition for the guber seat. If feelers from his allies are anything to go by however, he is very much interested in the top seat. He is being promoted as young and loyal to Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq.
Danladi is from Baruten in Kwara North, a region that is currently demanding rotation of power to it for inclusion and fairness. The Speaker enjoys the confidence of the youth in the state, but is not seen to be popular among major political stakeholders and power brokers across the three regions making up Kwara.
Danladi’s political strength at the grassroots, especially in his native Baruten LGA, is solid, but his exposure, experience, and network outside of the state has been challenged as limited, with analysts querying his capacity to lead a state that is as important and diverse as Kwara.
Prof Wale Suleiman
He is currently the pro-chancellor and chairman of the Governing Council of the Federal University of Health Science, Ila-Orangun. A world renowned neurosurgeon, Suleiman was also a former special adviser on Health to Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq, who left on curious grounds.
He is a leading contestant from Kwara South. It is recalled that Wale Suleiman left the APC to pick the senatorial ticket of the SDP in the 2023 elections.
Suleiman is considered relatively popular, but it will be difficult for him to gain the support of the party stakeholders and members to emerge as a consensus candidate. In any case, he brings technocratic appeal to the race.
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