Speaker of the Kwara State House of Assembly, Rt. Hon. Salihu Yakubu Danladi, has emerged winner of the All Progressives Congress (APC) governorship primary election in the state after polling 94,990 votes.
Danladi defeated 14 other aspirants, including a serving senator, in the keenly contested primary held across the 16 local government areas of Kwara State.
The election was announced on Friday at the Banquet Hall in Ilorin by the Chairman of the APC Governorship Primary Election Committee and former Minister of State for Defence, Senator Musiliu Obanikoro.
Declaring the result, Obanikoro said the exercise was peaceful and successful, stressing that no aspirant was a loser.
“There is no loser in any contest in APC. We are all winners,” he said before officially announcing the final scores.
“Therefore, I, Senator Musiliu Olatunde Obanikoro, hereby pronounce Rt. Hon. Yakubu Danladi Salihu as the winner of the gubernatorial primary, having satisfied the requirements,” he added.
The primary election followed days of political tension and intense horse-trading within the ruling party over the succession of Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq ahead of the 2027 elections.
Reports had earlier suggested internal disagreements over alleged endorsement moves, while the exercise was briefly suspended on Thursday over logistical concerns and consultations among stakeholders.
Ahead of the rescheduled primary, Obanikoro met with aspirants at the APC state secretariat in Ilorin and assured them of a transparent and credible process in line with party guidelines.
