Kwara APC Primary: Speaker Saliu Danladi Floors Yahya-Seriki, 13 Others To Clinch Governorship Ticket

Ilorin,  Kwara State– The Speaker of the Kwara State House of Assembly, Saliu Danladi, has emerged as the winner of the All Progressives Congress governorship primary election in Kwara State after defeating 14 other aspirants in a dramatic contest marked by last-minute political realignments.

Danladi secured a landslide victory after polling over 94,000 votes in the primary election conducted across the state on Friday.

His closest rival, Ambassador Abdulfatai Yahya-Seriki, scored 41,700 votes, while former APC Chairman, Bashir Bolarinwa, came a distant third with 22,118 votes.

The results were announced by Senator Musiliu Obanikoro, who chaired the supervisory committee for the Kwara APC governorship primary election.

Only three aspirants — Speaker Saliu Danladi, Professor Wale Sulaiman, and Captain Mahmud — were present during the official declaration of the results, while Yahya-Seriki and 11 other contenders were absent.

The outcome of the primary comes amid reports of intense political horse-trading within the ruling party in the state.

Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq had publicly declared support for Yahya-Seriki barely two days before the exercise, raising expectations that the businessman and diplomat would coast to victory.

However, political calculations reportedly shifted between Thursday night and Friday morning, with the pendulum swinging in favour of Danladi, who eventually emerged victorious.

The sudden turnaround has already stirred fresh discussions within the Kwara APC over the power dynamics that shaped the outcome of the primary election.

Danladi is now expected to lead the APC into the state governorship election as the party’s flag bearer.