2027 Kwara APC Guber Ticket: Traditional Rulers’ Naked Dance In Abuja Ends With A Red Card From Tinubu

Like Kurumi’s tortoise journey, the Kwara Traditional Rulers’ excursion to Abuja to meet with President Bola Tinubu and APC leaders over Governor Abdulrahman Abdulrasak’s phantom gubernatorial primary that produced Speaker Danladi Yakubu as the governorship candidate ended in disgrace, as Tinubu gave the delegation a Red Card. Olukayode Thomas writes that the Olofa of Offa’s involvement in the amoral trip is heartbreaking; he also points the way forward for the APC in Kwara State.

 

Introduction

Let me start by confessing: I have never met Femi Agbaje Whyte, the henchman of Governor Abdulrasak. But I can write a book on Whyte’s ignoble role in Offa and Kwara politics.

The first time I heard Whyte’s name was during a radio interview where Saheed Popoola called him Oni Dilali. Popoola accused Whyte of being a political mercenary whose loyalty is to the highest bidder.

Popoola mentioned the names of several politicians who have been used and dumped by Whyte. After listening to the interview, I fact-checked Popoola’s allegations, and in all honesty, discovers that Whyte’s white garment is full of stains.

The role Whyte played in the recent phantom APC primaries among aspirants from Offa, involving people like Lola Ashiru, Muheeba Dan Kaka and KayodeAdebiyi, further confirmed Popoola’s allegations.

So I was not surprised when Whyte took his vile role to Abuja alongside traditional rulers and proclaimed that the Abdulrasak phantom APC gubernatorial primary election that produced Yakubu Danladi, the current Speaker of the Kwara State House of Assembly, as party flagbearer was free and fair.

This is an election that 10 aspirants, including the president of Offa Descendant Union (ODU), Muyideen Salako, are asking the national secretariat of APC to cancel.

For Whyte, his kinsman being unjustly treated is inconsequential; what matters is doing the bidding of his paymaster Abdulrasak.

He was live in Abuja with Kwara traditional rulers and even delivered the closing remarks during a special “Thank You” visit to the Special Adviser on Political and other Matters to the President, Ibrahim Masari, even as President Tinubu gave the delegation a red card.

Olofa’s involvement is amoral

Whyte is inconsequential and may go down with Abdulrasak’s government and move into oblivion. The same cannot be said of the involvement of His Royal Majesty, Oba Mufutau Okikiola Esuwoye II, the Olofa of Offa, in Abdulrasak’s scheme to legalise illegality.

Only an Offa indigene with a heart of stone will not be sad that the paramount ruler of Ibolo Kingdom is one of the cheerleaders of Abdulrasak’s third-term agenda via power shift to Kwara North.

That our king is involved in an unconstitutional act is sad enough, because the 1999 Constitution clearly forbid monarchs from engaging in party politics; it also warned them to avoid endorsing candidates.

Sadder is that the Olofa is the leading campaigner to legitimise the phantom APC gubernatorial primary election, which produced Danladi.

This is an election where one of Olofa’s children, Salako, the president of the umbrella organisation for all Offa indigenes, ODU, is a victim of injustice.

Olofa apparently did not weigh the implications of his words when he said, ‘’We in the Kwara State Traditional Rulers Council started the process that produced a Kwara Northerner as APC Governorship Candidate.

‘’We’re pleased with the leadership of Governor Abdulrazak for not imposing any candidate on us in Kwara State.

‘’We also thank President Tinubu for enabling the Governor and also endorsing Danladi, who emerged as the party’s candidate after the primary. ‘’

Olofa should please stop disgracing us and stop dragging our crown in the mud.

Even High School children in Offa and Kwara State are aware that the APC does not have a governorship candidate as at the time he spoke. They also know that Abdulrasak is desperate to impose Danladi on Kwara APC members.

So what will be the fate of Offa if eventually justice prevails and the APC national headquarters rejects Danladi?

So if, at the end of the day, his son Salako or Bashir Omolaja Bolarinwa, a worthy son of Kwara South, gets the ticket and becomes Governor, where will Olofa run to?

Peradventure Olofa does not realise it, Offa may be small in size and population, but the city is huge in reputation, accomplishment and others.

Any Olofa is a deity, sitting on a throne that dates back to 1397.  Has he ever asked himself why the Emir of Ilorin, whose throne is more recent, is not involved in such despicable acts?

Oba Esuwoye must also realise that Olofas, before him, always fought for what was right, even if heaven would fall. About five Olofas lost their crown because they stood for what was just, instead of pecuniary gains.

 Power shift to Kwara North is Abdulrasak’s Third Term Agenda

Olofa’s claim that the Kwara State Traditional Rulers Council started the process that produced Danladi is not true.

Even before the end of his first term, Abdulrasak had rolled out his political hegemony plan in disguise of power shifting to Kwara North, with Danladi as the beneficiary.

The campaign was flagged off by Kunle Sulyman, a lawyer. Then he recruited youth groups to start agitating for power shift to Kwara North.

Next to key into his agenda were local government chairmen, followed by members of the Kwara State House of Assembly.

Traditional rulers were the last to join Abdulrasak’s agenda, and according to Sahara Reporters, they didn’t join because of personal conviction of principle. The newspaper alleged they were promised ₦100 million each, in two tranches.

So why is Abdulrasak desperate for a third, and why must it be Danladi? Kwarans assumed this might be due to several allegations of corruption, some of which include a N35 billion bond, which Ayansola Mohammed called the biggest rape of Kwara since creation.

The cost of projects like Tunde Idiagbon Flyover, the one at Unity Road, and the beautification works done around Unity and GRA. Others include the remodelling of 172 rooms at Kwara Hotel, which jumped from an initial quote of N3.5 billion to about N17.8 billion, and could eventually rise to N30 billion.

Spending N724 million on foreign trips within three months, according to NBS, is another issue.

Same as shoddy rehabilitation of schools like Government High School Adeta, Patigi Secondary School, Offa Grammar School, and others.

Only Danladi will not scrutinise what happened to local governments’ funds in the eight years of Abdulrasak.

While allegations of misgovernment may require evidence and paperwork to prove, Abdulrasak’s best friends and spin doctors will not deny his poor human relations.

Many won’t be surprised that he frittered away all the gains of O to ge within six months and that within seven years he has made enemies that will last a lifetime.

Politicians who played prominent roles in the O to ge revolution were dumped by Abdulrasak. On several occasions, the government of Abdulrasak has ordered the destruction of Salihu Mustapha billboards, and stopped many of his community development projects like the Health Centre and Emirate Pavilion.

An APC chieftain in Kwara, Toyin Olosasa, said Abdulrasak wanted a third term and Danladi because he was obsessed with Bukola Saraki ‘’There has long been a generational rivalry between the Sarakis and the Abdulrasaks. That rivalry has since been inherited by their children.’’

Olosasa sees a deliberate pattern of Abdulrasak attempting to replicate key legacies associated with Saraki.

He claimed Abdulrasak built bridges, established a university, became the Chairman of the Governors’ Forum, wants to become a senator and wants to install Danladi as the next governor of Kwara because he wants to emulate Saraki, who installed Abdulfaah Ahmed.

Olosasa concludes that Kwarans are tired of Abdulrasak.

‘‘They are not tired of the APC, and they are certainly not tired of President Tinubu. However, if care is not taken, the Governor’s declining popularity could negatively affect the President politically in Kwara State.’’

APC implosion is an accident waiting to happen

President Tinubu and the APC national headquarters should embrace the Latin phrase, ‘Vox populi, vox Dei’, when a final decision is to be made on who will be the party consensus candidate for the 2027 gubernatorial election, because there was no primary in Kwara.

Rubber stamping Abdulrasak’s phantom primary, which produced Danladi, is an own goal which will lead to implosion.

The leader of the party Elders Caucus in Kwara, James Ayenioye, JP, recently appealed to Tinubu; the national chairman of APC, NentaweYilwatda, and members of the NWC “to take a second look at the situation in Kwara State and engage more broadly with the critical stakeholders across the State and to consider the long-term health, stability and sustainability of the APC above all other considerations.”

Ayenioye argued that Danladi does not represent the strongest political option available to the party at this critical moment.

Aiyenioye said, “He is neither the most popular nor the most broadly acceptable option available to the APC today.

“We do not believe he possesses the level of statewide appeal required to unite the party, inspire confidence among undecided voters and effectively confront a rapidly strengthening opposition’’.

The ten disenfranchised aspirants, Bashir Omolaja Bolarinwa; Salihu Mustapha, Ibrahim Yahaya Oloriegbe; Tajudeen Abdulkadir Audu, Toyin Tajudeen Alabi; Mohammed Bio Omar; Muyideen Salako; Mohammed Dele Belgore Abdulfatai Yahya Seriki and Ahmad Mahmud warned that

“We must state without ambiguity that if the present trajectory is allowed to continue, the electoral prospects of the APC in Kwara State in all elections (including the presidential election) will be severely imperilled. Indeed, many stakeholders may be left with no choice but to seek alternative political platforms to pursue their aspirations in 2027.”

Also, the three APC senators representing Kwara State in the National Assembly, Salihu Mustapha (Kwara Central), Oyelola Ashiru (Kwara South) and Senator Sadiq Umar (Kwara North), have called for a review of the processes and outcomes of the party’s recent primaries, citing growing divisions within the ruling party.

The lawmakers urged the party leadership to revisit the screening exercises and primary elections and establish a high-level reconciliation committee to address grievances.

They urged party leaders and members to prioritise unity and collective interests to preserve the APC’s electoral fortunes in Kwara State.

BOB deserves to be Kwara APC consensus candidate

President Tinubu is probably a disciple of the Jewish seer, Nostradamus.

He had probably foreseen the current crisis in Kwara APC, and that was why he named Bolarinwa as the party consensus candidate.

Most party members agreed with the President’s choice except Abdulrasak. Apart from his third-term agenda, Abdulrasakdoesn’t want Bolarinwa – a friend who became an enemy – to succeed him.

Ironically, when the story of O to ge is being written, a section will be devoted to the contribution of Bolarinwa, who, as APC chairman, led the revolution.

But after the success of the revolution, Abdulrasak found Bolarinwa surplus to requirements. He schemed to push him out of the party, and he succeeded.

There were allegations that when Bolarinwa was embarrassed and beaten by Good Boys, who tore his clothes at the Banquet Hall opposite Government House, the state government was behind the attack.

Of the ten aggrieved aspirants, only Mustapha, Seriki and Bolarinwa have what it takes to defeat Kale Kawu, the PDP candidate.

Since both Seriki and Mustapha are from Central, in the spirit of justice and fairness, it will be wrong for them to succeed Abdulrasak, who is also from Central.

Central senatorial ticket should be given to Mustapha, while Seriki could be compensated with a ministerial appointment.

Bolarinwa (BOB) possesses the competence, experience, and grassroots support necessary to beat Kawu and emerge as the next Governor of Kwara State in 2027.

Kwarans are appealing to Tinubu to go back to his earlier decision and name Bolarinwa as Kwara APC consensus candidate to save the party from implosion.

The President should also disregard the propaganda that there are no voters in Kwara South.

Stats released by Kwara APC Stakeholders under the leadership of Issa Ezekiel Benjamin, a former Speaker, Kwara State House of Assembly (1999-2003), revealed that from 2015, 2019, and 2023, Kwara South delivered victory to APC.

“Rather than other zones, Kwara South has been the most consistent driver of APC victories in Kwara State, returning 68% – 70% of the vote in each cycle and providing the largest zonal margin in 2023 in addition to supplying the buffer that kept APC above 60% statewide.” Wrote Benjamin

In 2015, APC won Kwara North with 94,200 votes (68.9% of 136,700 valid votes cast), Kwara South with 96,800 votes (70.1% of 138,100), and Kwara Central with 98,400 votes (71.2% of 138,200).

In 2019, APC won Kwara North with 91,600 votes (66.2% of 138,400), Kwara South with 93,500 votes (68.7% of 136,100), and Kwara Central with 92,100 votes (66.8% of 137,900).

In 2023, APC won Kwara North with 89,400 votes or 62.1% of the 143,900 valid votes cast; it won Kwara South with 98,700 votes or 68.5% of the 144,100 valid votes cast; and it won Kwara Central with 75,500 votes, representing 54.3% of the 139,000 valid votes cast.

As for Olofa, we pray he will start acting as a father figure for all Ibolo children and Kwarans.

 

Olukayode Thomas, an indigene of Offa, writes from Lagos.