Saliu Mustapha PDP Ticket: Kwara Senator Defects, Picks Ticket Hours After Quitting APC
Senator Saliu Mustapha, representing Kwara Central Senatorial District, has picked the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) ticket for his district, just hours after formally announcing his resignation from the All Progressives Congress (APC), setting up a fresh political contest ahead of the 2027 general election.
Mustapha received the PDP senatorial ticket on Friday, August 21, 2026, from the party’s Kwara State Chairman, Issa Bawa, formally making him the party’s candidate for the Kwara Central senatorial election in 2027. A video seen online showed Bawa presenting the ticket to the senator, effectively confirming his emergence as the PDP’s candidate for the district.
Mustapha’s resignation from the APC was contained in a letter dated August 14, 2026, and addressed to the party’s Ward Chairman for Gambari Ward 1, Ilorin East Local Government Area of Kwara State. In the letter, the senator said his decision followed weeks of consultations with stakeholders, supporters, constituents and other well-meaning Kwarans, adding that his choice to leave the APC was guided by his belief that politics should be driven by the interests of the people, principles, and a clear sense of purpose. He said he had joined the APC as a founding member committed to its ideals of good governance, unity and service to the people, but that the party’s current leadership in Kwara State had fallen short of those standards, eroding his confidence in them.
The development follows a prolonged crisis within the ruling party in Kwara State. Mustapha had run for the APC’s governorship ticket, but the party opted instead to zone the ticket to the state’s northern senatorial district, eventually nominating state House of Assembly Speaker Yakubu Danladi-Salihu as its governorship candidate. His exit came following a protracted disagreement with Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq.
The PDP had already been quietly positioning itself as a possible political platform for the senator following his loss of the APC governorship ticket and the uncertainty surrounding his senatorial seat, with the party’s decision to hand him its Kwara Central ticket confirming those earlier political calculations. Reports had emerged as early as August 10 that Mustapha was considering a move to the PDP after losing the APC governorship primary, failing to secure the APC’s Kwara Central senatorial ticket, and falling increasingly at odds with elements within the party ahead of 2027. The speculation intensified after the PDP’s then candidate for the district, Yinka Otukoko, appeared willing to step aside to make way for him.
Mustapha’s emergence sets up a direct contest with Governor AbdulRazaq, who is himself seeking the Kwara Central Senate seat on the APC platform after completing his second term as governor, a contest expected to attract significant attention given both men’s prominence in Kwara politics and their shared political history within the same platform. Mustapha, who is also the Turaki of Ilorin Emirate, thanked the APC leadership, led by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, for the relationships and experiences he gained during his time in the party, while assuring his constituents that his change of political platform would not affect his commitment to serving the people of Kwara Central. He was elected to the Senate in 2023 on the APC platform.
As of the time of filing, the APC had not issued an official response to Mustapha’s defection or the swift emergence of a rival candidate on the PDP platform, though the development adds to a string of high-profile defections reshaping party alignments across Nigeria ahead of the 2027 general election.
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