2027 Kwara Gubernatorial Race: Speaker Danladi Allegedly Kicks Off State-wide Consultation, Appoints LGA Coordinators

By Ahmed Ajikobi

Barely seven months after the last Gubernatorial election in Kwara state, politicians, particularly in the ruling All Progressive Congress (APC), are said to have begun scheming on who will succeed the incumbent Governor, Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq, this medium can authoritatively report.

Governor Abdulrazaq, who was re-elected for a second term in March, is expected to conclude another four-year reign in 2027, after which he will be constitutionally ineligible to run for the office again.

Since the Governor will no longer be eligible to contest in the next general election, political observers believe that the office will be keenly contested, and ambitious individuals will start positioning themselves for the office.

However, it appears that politicians in the state have gone beyond posturing for the office and have commenced statewide consultation and setting up political structures to ultimately realize their ambitions.

One of the politicians who was said to have made his intentions known and set up structures to convey his political agenda is the 38-year-old Speaker of the Kwara state House of Assembly, Yakubu Danladi.

Danladi, who is presiding over the state legislative assembly for the second term, has commenced consultations with political stakeholders in the state, National Pilot was reliably informed.

Sources within Danladi’s team confirmed that the lawmaker had, in the past two months, held closed-door meetings with some caucus leaders in the party, soliciting support for his governorship ambition.

Five of those the lawmaker had reportedly met include three former federal lawmakers and one serving Senator.

It was also gathered that these individuals have yet to pledge their support for Danladi, with some of them stating that it was too early to take a stance.

“One former House of Rep member we met told Oga that it is too early for him to give his support. He just wished him the best,” said one of Danladi’s team members, who does not want his name in print because he was not authorized to comment on the matter

One of the political lobbyists whose services were reportedly engaged by the lawmaker said Danladi’s pitch to the stakeholders is that he is the Governor’s anointed candidate for the 2027 gubernatorial seat.

“The speaker, Danladi, has started his gubernatorial permutations ahead of 2027.

He would be the first to openly do so. He has not left anyone in doubt that he’s interested and he’s going about it with confidence. He’s claiming to whoever cares to listen to have the backing of the Governor,” said one of the sources.

Although some political leaders familiar with the development said the rumoured backing is not unlikely, a spokesperson for the Governor described it as an expensive joke, insisting that his principal is currently focused on governance.

Meanwhile, political observers say Danladi’s candidacy may put the Governor in a difficult position as some of his known allies are believed to be positioning themselves to take the reins of power from him.

This medium reliably gathered that some other APC Chieftains including a former Governorship hopeful; Ambassador Yahaya Seriki; Business mogul, Sheriff Shagaya and Senators Sodiq Umar and Saliu Mustapha have also expressed silent interest in the race, however not publicly.

“It remains to be seen how the governor wants to navigate others, who are also interested and reportedly warming up for the contest, especially Senator Sodiq Umar, Amb. Yahaya Seriki and Sheriff Shagaya, the son of the business mogul,” Ilorin-based political analyst, Aliyu Abubakar posited.

As an actionable move, Danladi, sources said, has set up coordinators across the 16 LGA, particularly in the Kwara Central district, which analysts predicted to be the battleground in 2027.

While the terms of reference for the engagements of the local coordinators remain sketchy as of the time of reporting, in-house sources say they are working to help Danladi galvanise support at the local levels.

One of those said to be fronting for the lawmaker is a former political adviser to the Governor.

While the ex political Adviser is coordinating Ilorin West LGA, another grassroots politician is said to be in charge of Ilorin South. Yet another popular politician is reportedly helping Danladi to mobilise in the Asa Local Government Area of the state.

The Ilorin East coordinatorship is most likely going to be manned by a former member of the Kwara State House of Assembly, sources revealed.

For robust support, the speaker has reportedly put in place a plan to leverage the membership of the state house of Assembly for his ambition.

This, our correspondent learnt, is being coordinated by one of the leaders of the house.

According to sources in the state assembly complex, the Coordinating member is expected to convince the lawmakers and lobby dissenting groups to the Speaker’s side.

“He is also expected to be the one to whip any rebellious member back to line through a carrot and stick approach,” said a top Assembly member.

However, the Speaker in reaction dismissed his reported guber moves as baseless and condemned it in its entirety.

Describing the story as a mere speculation by the people ,Danladi who spoke to National Pilot in a telephone chat on Sunday said, anybody who is politicking at this time is not serious.

“This is not the time for politicking, any serious minded politicians will not think of 2027 right now. You will be thinking of where people put you.

“ In the mandate of four years, we have not spent twelve months. You will now be thinking of 2027. Bukola Saraki is your Oga, people can say he is looking for president, all these are rumours. They can say he is looking for National chairman of PDP, it is rumour They can even say he is looking for world president, it is nothing, but a rumour”, he said.

According Danladi,” Why people of gwanara/Ilesha Baruba consistency and Kwara state people put us into Government is to bring dividends of Democracy. We have just started the mandate of democracy. Let us provide the dividends of democracy to the state. That is the most important thing for now. Anybody may just be looking for a way just to pass information that is not existing. It is God almighty that has this power. Where we are today is not is not by our power, it’s God. Why will I be faster than our shadow?

“ Even you, ( reporter), in your house there are rumors going on about. They can even say so so person give you N20m. All those one are rumours. Do you see any evidence? Do you see me holding any meetings with anybody on permutations or whatever?

“Our mandate is how Mallam AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq succeed for the four years mandate given to us. We will not let our people down. Nobody is politicking, for now we are facing governance. By his grace, May God help us to provide the dividends of Democracy for our people”, the Speaker explained.

The People Democratic Party (PDP), Kwara state chapter’spokesperson Olusegun Olusola Sholyments while reacting also condemned the move of the APC and their alleged candidate, stressing, no seriously minded politicians will be thinking of 2027.

He explained that restructuring of the party is the priority of the executives of his party for now.

“As for our party, we are doing everything possible to reposition ourselves for the coming political engagement, we are not only consulting but also restructuring the entire party’s structures to make it more attractive to the young population of kwarans . This, we believe, will reinforce hopes and confidence in our party to ordinary kwarans no matter where they are. No serious minded politicians will be thinking of 2027.”

He demanded to know the kind of preparation APC is making

“What is APC’s preparation? The only preparation for a ruling party should be performance and improving the standard of living of our people. Our question is, is APC government doing these? Is life now more livable for our people, are our school, roads, security and healthcare problems being solved today? If those in the government still think they can fool our people by distributing 10 kg Rice as Palliatives to solve their immediate hunger problems, then they fool themselves. ”