Kwara Speaker's 2027 Gubernatorial Bid Faces Scrutiny Over Alleged Dual Nomination

The Speaker of the Kwara State House of Assembly, Engr. Yakubu Danladi Salihu, is facing new scrutiny over his 2027 gubernatorial bid after a civil society group alleged that he participated in both the gubernatorial and House of Assembly primary elections in the same cycle.

The Citizens Awareness Against Corruption and Social Vices Initiative has taken the lawmaker to court, accusing him of double participation. The lawsuit, No. FHC/ABJ/CS/1112/2026, was filed at the Federal High Court in Abuja and lists the All Progressives Congress (APC) and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) as defendants.

The plaintiff questions Danladi’s alleged involvement in the APC governorship primary and the House of Assembly primary for the Ilesha/Gwanara Constituency during the same election season. According to the complaint, Danladi was screened, cleared, and ran as an aspirant in the APC primary for the House of Assembly seat held on 20 May 2026. He is also alleged to have taken part in the party’s governorship primary on 21 May and in another exercise on 22 May 2026, which declared him the winner.

The summons asks the court to determine whether the APC’s sponsorship and continued recognition of Danladi for two separate elective offices in the same election season is constitutional and lawful under the Electoral Act, 2026. It also seeks a ruling on whether a candidate who participates in two different primary elections for separate offices in the same electoral cycle can validly emerge as the winner of one contest while the outcome of the other remains unresolved or unpublished.

The plaintiff seeks several reliefs, including a declaration that Danladi’s nomination, screening, clearance, and participation in both the House of Assembly and governorship primaries violate the Electoral Act and the provisions regulating party primaries and nominations. The suit also requests that the court declare his governorship aspiration and emergence as the APC candidate unlawful, unconstitutional, illegal, null, and void. Additionally, the plaintiff asks for an order restraining INEC from accepting, publishing, recognizing, or retaining Danladi’s name as the APC governorship candidate if the court finds that he participated in the two primary elections simultaneously.

The plaintiff relies on the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, the Electoral Act, 2026, and the Federal High Court (Pre‑Election) Practice Directions to support its claims.

This legal action is part of a growing controversy surrounding the APC’s governorship primary process in Kwara State ahead of the 2027 general elections.

Daily Post reports that the party’s elders caucus recently declared Yakubu Danladi Salihu unfit after his emergence as the controversial primary winner for the governorship. The caucus accused Governor Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq of imposing him on the party. However, another group within the state chapter of the party dismissed the elders’ claim and affirmed that Danladi is fully qualified to be the party’s flag bearer for the 2027 election.

Political analysts and observers see the recent developments within the party’s state chapter as a major sign of implosion that could harm its performance in the upcoming general elections.