By Juliet Umeh
Senator Saliu Mustapha, representing Kwara Central Senatorial District in the National Assembly, has explained his decision to quit the All Progressives Congress, APC, for the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, saying his defection was not a rejection of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
Mustapha, who recently emerged as the PDP candidate for Kwara Central through a substitution process, said he left the APC because of what he described as lack of consultation, internal democracy and sense of belonging under the leadership of Governor Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq.
Speaking on Channels Television, Mustapha said: “I have not dumped President Tinubu. Like the Honourable Minister of FCT said, this Rainbow Coalition has extended to Kwara too.
“That is why it was deliberate to pick the PDP as our platform. It is not just Senator Saliu Mustapha. It is as a result of the coalition of the Otoge Progressives, the G15 and the Elder Caucus.”
According to him, members of the groups became alienated by the manner in which the APC was being managed in the state.
He said: “We have all felt alienated from the way and manner Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq is running the APC in Kwara.”
Mustapha said his decision was also informed by the failure of the party leadership to adequately consult stakeholders ahead of the recent primaries.
“If there had been proper management and proper sense of belonging or consultation, we wouldn’t have gotten to this level,” he said.
The senator alleged that the APC primary process was flawed, describing it as a “sham”.
He said: “You announced that the primaries will start after the Jumu’ah prayers, and the results were announced by 4pm. How fast can they bring the results? When would the agents have arrived for them to do the coalition? It was a sham.”
Mustapha insisted that his movement to the PDP was not motivated by personal disappointment over the APC ticket.
“This is not a Saliu Mustapha decision. The entire group, the Otoge Progressives, had an agreement, a meeting and sharing formula with the PDP,” he said.
He also maintained that the coalition remained committed to President Tinubu’s 2027 ambition.
“I have not dumped President Tinubu,” Mustapha reiterated. “We are all supporting President Tinubu.”
On his expectations in the 2027 election, the senator expressed confidence that the coalition would defeat the APC in Kwara.
“I can assure you that in this election we are going for, we would have defeated Abdulrahman Abdurazaq by 12 o’clock,” he declared.
Mustapha said his ultimate objective was to “reset the political mood in Kwara” and restore wider consultation and inclusiveness in the state’s politics.
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