The Senator representing Kwara Central, Saliu Mustapha has secured the Peoples Democratic Party’s senatorial ticket for the district just hours after announcing his resignation from the All Progressives Congress.
According to a video sighted by PUNCH Online on Friday which captured the moment the ticket was handed over to Mustapha by the Kwara State PDP Chairman, Issa Bawa, formally confirming him as the party’s candidate for the district heading into the 2027 general elections.
The swift turnaround comes barely hours after Mustapha, who also holds the traditional title of Turaki of Ilorin Emirate, announced he was leaving the APC, pointing to recent developments within the party’s Kwara State chapter as his reason for going.
In a resignation letter obtained by our correspondent on Thursday,
Insightlinks reports that Senator Mustapha’s decision followed weeks of consultations with stakeholders, supporters, constituents and other well-meaning Kwarans, adding that his politics has always been guided by the interests of the people rather than personal or party loyalty.
“Where the path of a political platform no longer sufficiently aligns with these convictions and the aspirations of the people one represents, the honourable thing to do is to chart a new course,” he said.
He thanked the APC leadership under President Bola Tinubu for the experiences and relationships built during his time in the party, and reassured his constituents that switching platforms wouldn’t change his commitment to serving them.
“To my constituents, supporters, political associates and stakeholders in Kwara State and beyond, I assure you that while my political platform may change, my principles, my purpose and my commitment to the people remain unchanged,” he said.
This isn’t entirely unexpected. PUNCH Online had reported as far back as August 10 that the Kwara APC was in deep crisis, with Mustapha said to be weighing a possible move to the PDP after losing the party’s governorship primary, failing to secure its Kwara Central senatorial ticket, and clashing repeatedly with other party figures ahead of 2027.
Sources at the time indicated the PDP’s Kwara Central ticket was effectively being held for Mustapha. That speculation grew louder when the party’s then senatorial candidate for the seat, Yinka Otukoko, hinted online that he was open to stepping aside.
Responding to a post by APC Kwara South aspirant Nurudeen Adeyemi on the WhatsApp platform “Kwara Commission,” Otukoko wrote that his ticket was “for either Saliu Mustapha of G15 or Mashood Mustapha”, a comment many party insiders read as a signal that the PDP was ready to welcome Mustapha if he made the jump.
Things got murkier days later when billboards featuring former federal lawmaker Mashood Mustapha, popularly known as MM, began appearing around August 12, fuelling fresh speculation about who the party would eventually settle on. A senior PDP source who spoke anonymously at the time said MM’s name had been “pencilled down” for the slot, though the final call rested with the party.
That uncertainty has now been resolved, with Saliu Mustapha officially emerging as the PDP’s flagbearer for Kwara Central. His candidacy sets up what’s expected to be a tightly fought contest against Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq, the APC’s candidate for the seat in 2027, a race likely to carry significant weight for the broader political balance in Kwara State ahead of the governorship and House of Assembly elections.
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