Kwara APC aspirants warn against using royal fathers to endorse candidate

Ten governorship aspirants of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Kwara State have appealed to President Bola Tinubu to prevent the state's traditional institution from being used to endorse the party's governorship candidate, Speaker Salihu Danladi.

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We have received credible information that some traditional rulers from Kwara State are being mobilised to visit the Presidential Villa in what appears to be an effort to legitimise and secure endorsement for a governorship candidate whose emergence remains controversial within our party.

The aspirants voiced their concerns in an open letter dated Monday, citing reports that selected first-class traditional rulers were being mobilized to visit the Presidential Villa in Abuja to secure endorsement for Danladi, who won the APC governorship primary on May 22, 2026, with 94,990 votes. The aspirants, however, remain unconvinced by the primary's outcome and are troubled by perceived efforts to legitimize the process through royal fathers.

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While we hold our revered royal fathers in the highest esteem and recognise their invaluable roles as custodians of our culture and tradition, we respectfully submit that traditional institutions should not be drawn into partisan political contests.

"We have received credible information that some traditional rulers from Kwara State are being mobilised to visit the Presidential Villa in what appears to be an effort to legitimise and secure endorsement for a governorship candidate whose emergence remains controversial within our party," the aspirants stated in their letter. The signatories include Dele Belgore (SAN), Ambassador Yahaya Gambari, Senator Saliu Mustapha, and Senator Yahaya Oloriegbe, among others.

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The involvement of traditional rulers in efforts to validate the outcome of a disputed party primary risks eroding the neutrality and moral authority that have distinguished the institution over the years.

While reaffirming their loyalty to the APC, the aspirants stressed the importance of not compromising internal party democracy. They hold traditional rulers in high esteem but believe these institutions should not be drawn into partisan politics. The aspirants warned that involving traditional rulers in validating a disputed primary could erode their neutrality and moral authority, potentially creating a false impression of unified support for a process many party members consider flawed and exclusionary.

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We are concerned that a visit of this nature may create the false impression that the people and stakeholders of Kwara State are united behind a process that many party members consider flawed, exclusionary and inconsistent with democratic principles.