APC Postpones Kwara Primary Till Friday, Stakeholders in Crucial Meeting at APC Secretariat
The governorship primary election of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) in Kwara State took a dramatic turn after the party leadership abruptly shifted the exercise from Thursday to Friday, a development that that also led to marathon meeting on Thursday by stakeholders at the party secretariat
The postponement, announced barely hours before the initial exercise, created uncertainty among party faithfuls and aspirants across the state.
However, before the rescheduled primary eventually commenced on Friday, the political atmosphere had already tilted heavily in favour of Yahaya Seriki following tthe announcement of Yahaya as anointed aspirant by Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq on Tuesday night
The affected aspirants, including Dr. Salako Oluwatoyin, Captain Ahmad Mahmoud, Professor Wale Sulaiman, Dr. Mohammed Bio, Dr. Toyin Alabi, Hajia Aisha Patigi, Senator Ibrahim Oloriegbe and the Speaker of the Kwara State House of Assembly, Hon. Yakubu Salihu Danladi, publicly aligned with Seriki in what observers described as a strategic consolidation of forces within the party.
The APC leadership in the state said the postponement directive came from officials of the party’s national headquarters who arrived in Kwara to supervise the conduct of the primary election.
State Publicity Secretary of the party, Alhaji Abdulwaheed Olawale Babatunde, disclosed that the national team ordered the postponement without immediately giving detailed explanations.
Confirming the development, the APC State Chairman, Prince Sunday Fagbemi, urged aspirants and party members to remain calm and comply with the new arrangement.
“We don’t have details for the cancellation other than the fact that the team from national office came and instructed that the election holds tomorrow, Friday,” Fagbemi stated.
Despite the confusion that trailed the postponement, party members turned out in large numbers across several wards on Friday morning to participate in the exercise.
From Amoyo in Ifelodun Local Government Area to wards in Ilorin West, Ilorin East and parts of Kwara South, supporters of different aspirants flooded voting centres in a carnival-like atmosphere marked by drumming, dancing and political chants.
Though the exercise reportedly commenced hours behind schedule in many centres, party loyalists waited patiently under the scorching sun to cast their votes.
At Alanamu and Adewole wards in Ilorin West Local Government Area, supporters of Yahaya Seriki dominated the atmosphere with chants of “Sai Yahaya,” while rival camps also mobilised their loyalists peacefully.
The primary election was generally adjudged peaceful in wards monitored across the state, including Gambari Ward II, Karuma, Ganmo/Idofian, Magaji Are, Ojomu South East and Balogun wards.
One of the striking moments of the exercise was the participation of physically challenged APC members who insisted on exercising their political rights despite mobility challenges.
At Gambari Ward II in Ilorin East Local Government Area, a visually-impaired party loyalist from Sokoto State, Abubakar Gobir, said he joined the exercise alongside his colleagues because of their commitment to the APC.
“We are here to exercise our civic right as loyal party members,” Gobir told journalists at the venue.
Another visually-impaired supporter, Rufai Yusuf, openly declared support for Yahaya Seriki.
“We are with our families to pay goodness with goodness, we are all here for Yahaya Seriki,” he said.
The governorship contest also featured notable aspirants such as Bashir Omolaja Bolarinwa, Senator Saliu Mustapha and Engineer Olufemi Sanni, all of whom maintained visible support bases during the exercise.
However, while the process remained orderly in many areas, there were pockets of complaints over logistics and the delayed arrival of electoral officials.
At Ganmo/Idofian in Kwara South, party member Alhaji Adebayo Yakeen, popularly known as Baba Blue, alleged that no electoral officers arrived at the ward for the conduct of the exercise.
“We did not see electoral officers to conduct 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 claimed.
But ward officials quickly dismissed the allegation.
Mr. Busari Olaiya Lukman and Alhaji Mustapha, also known as Leko, urged journalists to disregard the claim, insisting that the ward chairman only travelled to the APC state secretariat to obtain electoral materials.
Political observers say the combination of the abrupt postponement and the mass withdrawal of aspirants in favour of Yahaya Seriki may significantly shape the outcome of the APC succession battle in Kwara, especially as the ruling party intensifies preparations ahead of the next governorship election.
