APC national leadership delays Kwara governorship primary election

The All Progressives Congress governorship primary election for Kwara State, originally scheduled for Thursday, was postponed to Friday.

State party chairman Prince Sunday Fagbemi told reporters that his office had been notified by the national leadership that the primary was cancelled.

He added, “We don’t have details for the cancellation other than the fact that the team from the national office came and instructed that the election be held tomorrow.”

Just hours before the rescheduled primary was set to begin, eight aspirants withdrew on Thursday in support of Ambassador Abdulfatai Yahaya Seriki, the preferred successor of Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq.

On Wednesday evening, Seriki held strategic meetings with fellow aspirants and key stakeholders in the state. The group unanimously decided to back his candidacy to promote unity and preserve Governor AbdulRazaq’s achievements.

Supporters of Seriki included Dr Salako Oluwatoyin, Captain Ahmad Mahmoud, Professor Wale Sulaiman, Dr Mohammed Bio, Dr Toyin Alabi (former local government commissioner), Hajia Aisha Ahman Patigi, Senator Ibrahim Oloriegbe, and Speaker of the House of Assembly Yakubu Salihu Danladi.

The meeting concluded with a renewed commitment to party cohesion, issue‑based engagement, and a peaceful primary process that would further strengthen the APC in Kwara State.

Additional aspirants may also withdraw before the primary election.

During the primary itself, voters—including physically challenged APC members—arrived in the Kwara Central Senatorial District as early as 8:00 am. The exercise officially began at noon across the state.

In Gambari ward II, Karumo in Ilorin East, Sokoto State‑born visually impaired Abubakar Gobir told reporters that he and his colleagues were present to exercise their civic right as loyal party members.

Another visually impaired voter, Rufai Yusuf, also from Sokoto State, said, “We are with our families to pay goodness with goodness, we are all here for Yahaya Seriki.”

In Adewole and Alananmu wards in Ilorin West, the atmosphere favored Seriki, with the chant “sai Yahaya” echoing through the air.

In Kwara South, Alhaji Adebayo Yakeen A.K.A Baba blue, at Ganmo/Idanfian, told reporters that they did not see electoral officers conducting the exercise. “But we ordered ourselves to queue up, and we counted ourselves and have since sent the results to our leadership in the state,” he said.

However, ward officers Mr Busari Olaiya Lukman and Alhaji Mustapha, also known as Leko, urged journalists to disregard the Adebayo claim, noting that the ward chairman had gone to the state secretariat for electoral materials.