Speaker of the Kwara State House of Assembly, Rt. Hon. Salihu Yakubu Danladi, has emerged winner of the All Progressives Congress governorship primary election in the state.
He defeated 14 other aspirants, including a serving senator, during the party’s primary election.
Danladi polled 94,990 votes to emerge victorious in the exercise held 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 outcome at the Banquet Hall in Ilorin.
While declaring the result of the exercise, Obanikoro described the primary as peaceful and successful, stressing that no aspirant lost 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 came after days of political tension and intense succession calculations within the ruling party over who would succeed Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq in 2027.
The contest stirred controversy following reports that the governor had endorsed Ambassador Yahaya Seriki as his preferred successor, leading to resistance from some aspirants and political blocs within the APC.
The crisis worsened on Thursday after the party suddenly suspended the governorship primary midway into the process, citing logistical challenges and the need for further consultations among stakeholders.
Before 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 directives from the party’s national leadership.
The contest also revived discussions over zoning and power rotation, with groups from Kwara South intensifying demands for the governorship seat to shift from Kwara Central in the interest of fairness and inclusion.
Supporters of Danladi broke into celebration shortly after the announcement of the result, while party leaders moved to unite members behind the Speaker ahead of the 2027 governorship election.
