2027: Kwara APC Faction Endorses Tinubu, Rejects Party’s Primaries’ Candidates

A faction of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Kwara, operating under the banner of The Oto Ge Progressives (T.O.P.), has endorsed President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s re-election bid for the 2027 presidential election while rejecting all candidates produced through the party’s recent primary elections in the state.
The group’s position was made known on Thursday during a town hall meeting with APC stakeholders in Ilorin.
Speaking on behalf of the group, former governorship aspirant and ex-Senator, Yahaya Oloriegbe, said members remained loyal to President Tinubu but would not accept what they described as the imposition of candidates by a single individual.
“We have the people and the people are with us. We are for the President and we promise President Tinubu more votes than he got in the 2023 presidential election. But we reject all the candidates produced by the primary,” Oloriegbe said.
The group alleged that individuals who were neither popular nor acceptable in their communities had emerged as candidates through a process designed to entrench political godfatherism in the state.
According to the group, Kwara people had long rejected such a political culture and deserved a transparent, credible and democratic process.
“We reject the notion that the future leadership of our state should be decided solely by one individual. Kwara deserves a credible, transparent and democratic process, not one designed merely to endorse a preferred candidate through coercion, manipulation or exclusion,” the group stated.
The T.O.P. appealed to the national leadership of the APC to intervene and address what it described as widespread dissatisfaction among party members in Kwara.
The group warned that unless the concerns of aggrieved members were addressed, the party’s unity and electoral prospects in the state could be jeopardised.
“Through the unity, sacrifice and collective resolve of the people, the APC became the dominant political force in the state, with victory at every level in the 2027 elections firmly within reach. That prospect has now been gravely undermined by the unilateral decision of one individual.
“Unless the present arrangement is reconsidered and the widespread dissatisfaction among party members is genuinely addressed, the party’s unity and electoral success can no longer be assured,” the statement added.
The group also alleged that some of its members had been subjected to intimidation and inducements in an attempt to secure their loyalty.
“We are aware of efforts to secure their allegiance through financial inducements, promises of political appointments and other personal advantages.
“We have also received disturbing accounts of threats, intimidation, blackmail, name-calling and undue pressure directed at those who refuse to abandon their convictions,” the group said.
Prominent APC figures present at the meeting included serving members of the National Assembly and the Kwara State House of Assembly, governorship aspirants and other party stakeholders, among them Senators Salihu Mustapha, Sadiq Umar, Lola Ashiru and Yahaya Oloriegbe, as well as Bashir Omolaja Bolarinwa, Ambassador Yahaya Seriki, Hon. Yinka Aluko, Salman Jawondo (SAN), Hon. Olatunde Owolabi, Tajudeen Audu, Mohammed Dele Belgore, Mamsa Ibrahim, Mohammed Bio Umar, Hon. Ahmed Ndakene, Attahiru Adamu and Chief Bisi Ayeni.