2027: Kwara APC has no candidates yet, G15 insists

A group of stakeholders within the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Kwara State, known as the G15, has declared that the party has yet to produce official candidates for the 2027 general elections, casting doubt on recent claims suggesting otherwise.

The group, which includes Senator Lola Ashiru, Senator Sadiq Umar, Senator Ibrahim Oloriegbe, former state chairman Bashir Bolarinwa, Senator Saliu Mustapha, Ambassador Abdulfatai Yahaya Seriki, Captain Mahmud, Dr Toyin Alabi, Alhaji Salako Azeez, Hon. Omar, Dele Belgore, Audu Tajudeen Makama, Hon. Tajudeen Ismail, and Hon. Yinka Aluko, asserted on Monday during a rally in Ilorin attended by thousands of party members and supporters.

Addressing the gathering, the G15 leaders expressed appreciation to Kwarans for their loyalty amid what they described as an ongoing internal crisis within the party. They reaffirmed their commitment to fairness, inclusivity, and the founding ideals of the “Otogẹ” movement, which reshaped the state’s political landscape in 2019.

The group maintained that, contrary to emerging narratives, no legitimate candidates have been produced by the party for any elective position ahead of the 2027 polls. They warned against actions they described as anti-democratic, calling for what they termed “Otogẹ Reloaded” to resist perceived imposition and restore internal democracy within the APC in the state.

The position of the G15 appears to contrast sharply with earlier reports from the same day, in which some APC figures were said to have visited the Emir of Ilorin’s palace on a thank-you tour, presenting themselves as candidates or representatives of candidates ahead of the next election cycle.

While those visits were widely interpreted as a show of political consolidation and early alignment within the party, the G15’s declaration introduces a competing narrative, underscoring deepening divisions within the Kwara APC over the legitimacy of any emerging candidacies.

The development signals a potential escalation of intra-party tensions as stakeholders continue to jostle for influence ahead of the 2027 general elections.