2027: Saliu Mustapha challenges AbdulRazaq to public debate over Kwara Central projects

…says governor is frustrating his projects to discredit his performance

…promises to ‘reset the equation’ in Kwara in 2027

…says opposition will monitor votes from polling units to state collation centre

…reiterate he will defeat the governor before 12pm on election day

Senator Saliu Mustapha, representing Kwara Central, has challenged Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq to a public debate over their respective achievements and plans for the senatorial district.

Mustapha, who spoke at a political event organised by The Otoge Progressives (TOP), said the governor should stop using aides and political associates to respond to his criticisms and instead confront him directly.

The senator said that AbdulRazaq had frustrated some of his constituency projects in an attempt to undermine his performance and later claim that he had failed to deliver for Kwara Central.

“I have been doing works, that is why I was given Turaki of Ilorin because of my development to the emirate.

“He is refusing my projects because he wants to bring me down and come back to say I didn’t work. He is stopping all my projects,” Mustapha said.

The senator said he would not engage with what he described as the governor’s “errand boys”, adding that responses to such attacks would be handled by his aides.

“I won’t respond to all his errand boys. When he sends his errand boys, we will send our aide to reply them. But I challenge Governor AbdulRazaq to a public debate,” he said.

Mustapha challenged the governor to publicly account for his achievements, present his plans for Kwara Central and allow him to do the same.

“Let him come out and tell what he has done and I will come back and tell what I have done. Let him come out with his plan for Kwara Central and I will do that too. I am challenging him. He shouldn’t send his errand boys,” he said.

The senator also said the political realignment ahead of the 2027 elections would be driven by what he described as the collective interest of the people rather than the ambitions of individual politicians.

“We will reset the equation in 2027. It is not about me or about Saraki or Kawu, it is about the collective interest of my people,” he said.

Mustapha said they will present data and statistics to support its claims when the political contest intensifies, while urging supporters to begin grassroots mobilisation ahead of the election.

He also promised that the group would deploy agents to monitor the electoral process from polling units through the various stages of collation.

“When it is time, we will come out with data and statistics to challenge them. Let everyone start going out to mobilise at the polling unit,” he said.

“There will be no rigging. We will sit with our votes and monitor it from the polling unit, to the ward, to the LG and to the state where the final announcement will be done.”

Mustapha expressed confidence that the political opposition would defeat the governor at the polls, saying, “We will defeat the governor before 12pm on election day.”