Speaker of the Kwara State House of Assembly, Rt. Hon. Salihu Yakubu Danladi, has been declared winner of the All Progressives Congress (APC) governorship primary election in the state.
He defeated 14 other aspirants, including an incumbent senator, in the party’s primary election.
Danladi secured 94,990 votes to emerge winner of the exercise conducted across the 16 local government areas of the state.
Chairman of the APC Governorship Primary Election Committee and former Minister of State for Defence, Senator Musiliu Obanikoro, announced the result at the Banquet Hall in Ilorin.
Declaring the outcome of the exercise, Obanikoro said the primary was peaceful and successful, insisting that there was no loser in the contest.
“There is no loser in any contest in APC. We are all winners,” he said shortly before announcing the final scores of the aspirants.
“Therefore, I, Senator Musiliu Olatunde Obanikoro, hereby pronounce Rt. Hon. Yakubu Danladi Salihu as the winner of the gubernatorial primary, having satisfied the requirements,” Obanikoro declared.
The governorship primary followed days of political tension and intense succession permutations within the ruling party over who succeeds Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq in 2027.
The race generated controversy after reports emerged that the governor had backed Ambassador Yahaya Seriki as his preferred successor, triggering opposition from some aspirants and political blocs within the APC.
The crisis deepened on Thursday after the party abruptly suspended the governorship primary midway into the process, citing logistical concerns and the need for further consultations among stakeholders.
Ahead of the rescheduled exercise, Obanikoro met with aspirants at the APC state secretariat in Ilorin and assured party members of a transparent, free and credible process in line with the directives of the party’s national leadership.
The contest also reopened debates over zoning and power rotation, with groups from Kwara South intensifying calls for the governorship seat to shift away from Kwara Central in the interest of equity and inclusion.
Supporters of Danladi erupted in celebration shortly after the announcement of the result, while party leaders moved to rally members behind the Speaker ahead of the 2027 governorship election.
