Kwara APC Succession: AbdulRazaq’s Protests Backfire

Kwara State Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq is battling to keep his preferred succession plan alive after fresh endorsements for a rival aspirant within the All Progressives Congress. NaijaChoice News reports that the governor has ramped up mobilisation across local government areas, with rallies and stakeholder meetings now dominating the political space in Ilorin and beyond.

Critics claim these activities amount to a last-ditch effort to sell the “Kwara North Agenda” as a genuine power-shift project. The agenda has long been linked to Rt. Hon. Saliu Yakubu Danladi, Speaker of the Kwara State House of Assembly, whom many see as the governor’s anointed choice for 2027.

The latest twist came when several APC caucuses, including the Kwara North chapter, threw their weight behind Hon. Dr. Bashir Omolaja Bolarinwa, popularly known as BOB. The endorsements, which also reaffirmed support for President Bola Tinubu’s second term, have left the governor’s camp rattled, sources close to the Government House told NaijaChoice News.

AbdulRazaq has consistently denied nursing a third-term ambition through a proxy. In March, his media team described reports that he forwarded Danladi’s name to the presidency as “false and malicious.” Yet Sahara Reporters earlier exposed alleged plans to offer traditional rulers up to ₦100 million each in tranches to back the zoning arrangement.

Danladi’s supporters have not been idle. In the past two weeks alone, APC chapters in Moro, Oyun, Baruten and parts of Kwara South held well-attended rallies declaring support for the Speaker while praising the governor’s developmental record. Party leaders insist the move is about equity, noting that Kwara North is the only senatorial district yet to produce a governor since 1999.

But Bolarinwa’s backers argue that competence and broad acceptability should trump zoning. Stakeholders from Offa, Oke-Ero and Ilorin West have openly rejected what they call an “imposed candidate,” pointing to Bolarinwa’s experience as former state APC chairman.

The development has triggered uneasy calm within the Kwara APC. Local government chairmen and assembly members remain publicly loyal to the governor, with some pledging to back “whatever choice” he makes. However, multiple party elders have told NaijaChoice News privately that the presidency’s reported preference for Bolarinwa has altered the game.

Observers say the real test will come when national APC leaders finally wade in. For now, the streets of Ilorin echo with campaign songs from both camps, even as ordinary Kwarans watch closely to see whether the O to ge spirit that swept AbdulRazaq to power in 2019 will survive another fierce succession battle.