The political rift between Kwara State Governor, AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq, and the senator representing Kwara Central, Saliu Mustapha, did not begin with the latter’s eventual exit from the All Progressives Congress.
Neither did it start on the day the party’s governorship primary produced the Speaker of the Kwara State House of Assembly, Yakubu Danladi-Salihu, as its candidate for the 2027 election.
But the primary, held on May 22, 2026, appears to have become the defining moment in a disagreement that had been building quietly within the ruling party and has now spilled into the open, reshaping political alliances and raising fresh questions about the future of the APC in Kwara State.
The gov battle
For months, Mustapha, who is also the Turaki of Ilorin Emirate, was regarded as one of the major political figures eyeing the governorship seat that will become vacant when AbdulRazaq completes his second term on May 29, 2027.
