The APC governorship primary in Kwara State on Friday, May 22, 2026, produced an upset no one saw coming and will be remembered for years, especially in a country where governors wield enormous power and expect total loyalty from the state assembly.
Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq had endorsed Yahaya Seriki as his successor. By every expectation, Seriki was the next APC governorship candidate. But when the results were announced in Ilorin by the Primary Election Committee Chairman, Senator Musiliu Obanikoro, Seriki had lost by 53,290 votes to Speaker Yakubu Danladi.
Danladi has been Speaker since 2019. Over seven years, he built something that most Speakers never bother to build: his own independent base inside the Assembly. Eighteen of the twenty-four APC lawmakers answer to Danladi, not the Governor. They owe him their positions, their access to funds, or simply their relevance. Each of those eighteen controls ward and local government delegates. So when the Governor endorsed Seriki, those delegates already had their orders. They voted for Danladi.
But Danladi’s Assembly base was only half the story. The other half was Kwara North. Danladi is from Baruten Local Government in Kwara North. That senatorial district has produced no governor since 1999. After eight years of AbdulRazaq from Kwara Central, the north decided they had waited long enough. Traditional rulers, youth groups, and party stakeholders across Patigi, Edu, Moro, and Baruten rallied behind Danladi. The message was simple: our turn. No endorsement from the Governor could cancel that sentiment.
The Governor miscalculated badly. He thought his endorsement would end the race. Instead, it sparked a rebellion. Party members who wanted a genuine contest felt betrayed. Kwara North leaders threatened to walk out. Then, on the morning of the primary, the Governor’s camp quietly switched sides. A government source cited fresh questions about Seriki’s business interests. The real story, however, is simpler: the Governor faced an impossible choice. Force Seriki through and lose the Assembly. Or pull back. He pulled back.
By primary day, the deal was sealed. Danladi secured 94,990 votes. Seriki came second with 41,700 votes. All five local government areas in Kwara North returned more than 90 percent of their votes for the Speaker. Even in Kwara South, Offa, Oyun, Irepodun, and other local governments stood behind him.
Seriki lost for three simple reasons. He was an outsider who had spent years in the United Kingdom and only returned to Kwara politics in 2023. He controlled no elected officials who could deliver delegates. And zoning was never on his side.
Danladi now controls the party machinery heading into 2027. But Seriki and eleven other aspirants have boycotted the result. If they defect, the door opens for the PDP and Bukola Saraki. That is the real danger. On that day in May, however, a 39-year-old Speaker did something that barely seemed possible. He outmanoeuvred a sitting governor on his own turf.
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