Today, I read the letter from Senator Saliu Mustapha tendering his resignation from the APC. Before I could even fully digest it, he had joined the PDP, and the next minute, he was picking up their ticket.

As a card-carrying APC member, the convener of the Bola Ahmed Tinubu Ideological Group, and a stakeholder in Kwara politics, I am deeply disappointed by this development. But it begs the question: now that Saliu Mustapha has left, who is next? Why is it so difficult for the Governor to manage these key figures? This is starting to look like the Osun race all over again. When your top candidates leave for the opposition, it sends a very bad signal. It is not too late for the Governor to mend fences; the arrogance has to go. This vindictive style of politics is neither what we learned from Tinubu, nor is it how he taught us to navigate politics. If Tinubu were vindictive, a lot of people would be in jail today, yet they remain some of the greatest beneficiaries of this administration despite not being in the APC.

Setting that aside, my focus remains clear: why I am backing Danladi from Kwara North for Governor.

I know our candidate will win Kwara because we have put in the work. When the campaign starts, our impact across the state will speak for itself. Look at the Osogbo-Offa-Ijagbo Road project we pushed to the approval stage, or the dualization and refurbishment efforts we championed. Look at the Ajase Ipo to Oke-Ode Road that we pushed to the North Central Development Commission—it was approved immediately, and we are currently awaiting the final scope of work.

Beyond infrastructure, we facilitated jobs through the NDE for many Kwarans. We also spearheaded the critical project that brought a military base to Omu-Aran, drastically improving security. Some may question our role in these achievements, but the facts speak for themselves. On May 9th, we met with the IGP of Police and made a direct case for Kwara South. We requested a Police Academy to secure our communities, allowing over fifty displaced communities to finally return home safely.

When we didn’t get a definitive response on the Police Academy, I immediately shifted strategy. On June 3, 2026, we submitted a formal request to the President asking for either a Police Academy or a Nigerian Defence Academy (NDA) presence in Oke-Ode to cover Kwara South. By July 23, 2026, the project was approved and sited in Omu-Aran, which actually serves as a better central location for the region. That single intervention reduced security challenges in Kwara State by 85 to 90 percent and brought five additional military battalions to the zone. Our efforts went beyond Kwara to benefit five neighboring regions, proving that as stakeholders, our work directly shapes outcomes in this state.

My support for Danladi comes down to three main principles: youth inclusion, equity, and rewriting the history of Kwara politics. We need a state where everyone knows they have a stake, not one dominated by a few individuals from Kwara Central who operate with an unhealthy sense of entitlement. Since the return to democracy in 1999, Kwara Central has held power for sixteen years, while Kwara South had its turn largely through an Ilorin proxy. Kwara North has not had the chance at all, yet Kwara Central wants to hold onto it again.

To those APC members and pure Kwara/Kwara North indigenes considering voting for the PDP, voting for PDP itself is not the primary issue; the real danger is that Kwara Central will simply use that Saraki proxy to cling to power and ensure no other region ever gets it again. They did the exact same thing immediately after Fatai completed his tenure, power was supposed to shift back to Kwara North, but they never allowed it. Supporting a Kwara Central candidate through the PDP just because you are aggrieved with the Governor means voting for one single senatorial district to continue ruling us. That is bad for unity, bad for equity, and it is completely unprogressive. We need every stakeholder carried along so everyone feels a genuine sense of belonging, which is why we must unite behind Danladi. I have never met Danladi in person, nor have I ever sat down with him, but my loyalty lies with justice and equity.

If we want a truly united state, every region and every senatorial district must have a voice and a seat at the table. Winning with Danladi proves that every youth has a future in Kwara State and that every zone can decide who governs. The Yoruba are the majority in Kwara and ultimately decide the state’s political direction across every zone, yet politicians in Kwara Central continue to play divisive games that I simply cannot align with.

While my top priority remains the success of the party, everyone must remember that Kwara State belongs to all of us. Supporting Danladi is about building a progressive, inclusive political future rather than clinging to dirty, outdated tactics.

Bamidele Atoyebi is the Convener of BAT Ideological Group, National Coordinator of Accountability and Policy Monitoring and a publisher at Unfiltered and Mining Reporting and political social worker