AbdulRasheed Salawu writes that the All Progressives Congress in Kwara State must be cautious in choosing its gubernatorial candidate to avoid defeat in the 2027 poll.
There are moments in politics when silence becomes complicit and hesitation becomes danger. This is one of such moments in Kwara State.
What is unfolding ahead of the 2027 governorship race is not the normal contest of ideas or healthy democratic rivalry. It is a calculated, aggressive attempt to bend reality, manipulate perception, and pressure the leadership of the All Progressives Congress (APC) into making a decision it may ultimately regret. At the centre of this orchestration is Senator Saliu Mustapha—a man whose political rise continues to raise more questions than it answers.
Let us be clear: if the APC allows itself to be stampeded by propaganda, choreographed endorsements, and the noise of well-funded political theatre, it will not just be making a mistake—it will be flirting with outright political suicide.
The troubling issue is not ambition; ambition is the lifeblood of politics. The issue is the foundation upon which that ambition rests. Before 2023, the public space in Kwara had little to anchor on in terms of verifiable enterprise, transparent wealth creation, or measurable socio-economic impact tied to Mustapha. There was no widely acknowledged industrial footprint, no enduring record of large-scale job creation, no visible legacy that typically precedes and justifies such a rapid political ascent.
