Senator Saliu Mustapha has expressed confidence that he will defeat Kwara State Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq in the 2027 Kwara Central senatorial election.
Mustapha, who recently defected from the All Progressives Congress to the Peoples Democratic Party, made the declaration during an interview with Channels Television on Friday.
The senator said his departure from the APC was difficult because of his role in the formation of the party. He recalled serving as deputy national chairman of the Congress for Progressive Change and said he helped facilitate the merger that eventually produced the APC.
Mustapha questioned AbdulRazaq’s political allegiance during the period the APC was formed, noting that the governor was then a member of the Peoples Democratic Party.
“Where was Abdulrahman Abdulrazak then? Where was he then? He was in PDP then, fighting against us,” Mustapha said, according to TheCable.
He said consultations with constituents and political stakeholders influenced his decision to leave the APC, describing the move as a collective response to what he called “shenanigans” within the party in Kwara.
Mustapha had contested the APC governorship primary on May 22 but lost to Yakubu Danladi-Salihu, Speaker of the Kwara State House of Assembly. Danladi-Salihu secured 94,990 votes in the primary.
Following his failure to secure the governorship ticket, Mustapha also lost the opportunity to return to the Senate on the APC platform after AbdulRazaq emerged as the party’s preferred candidate for Kwara Central.
Asked whether he could defeat the governor in the senatorial contest, Mustapha gave an emphatic response.
“I will have won that election 12 o’clock before one o’clock,” he said.
When asked whether he was specifically referring to defeating AbdulRazaq, he replied: “Yes, it will be one election; Nigerians will be waiting to see the result.”
Mustapha also claimed that members of the G15, the Elders Caucus and the Otoge Progressives were favourably disposed towards supporting PDP candidates in the 2027 elections.
He attributed the development to dissatisfaction over the conduct of the APC primaries, including what he described as inadequate consultation and a lack of a sense of belonging among stakeholders.
According to him, Kwara had more than 160 aspirants for state House of Assembly seats, about 17 governorship aspirants, 64 House of Representatives aspirants and 15 senatorial aspirants before the APC primaries.
Mustapha said several political parties approached the aggrieved stakeholders, but they chose the PDP because of its support for President Bola Tinubu’s 2027 ambition.
“We looked at the most friendly party,” he said, describing the Wike-led PDP faction as the leading party outside the APC supporting Tinubu’s presidential bid.
The comments set the stage for a closely watched political contest in Kwara Central as Mustapha prepares to challenge AbdulRazaq for the senatorial seat in 2027.
