[Op-ed]: Kwara APC’s G15 Revolt: A Warning Signal That Must Not Be Ignored

By Abdullateef Ishowo

On Monday July 6, 2026, Kwara witnessed a seismic political demonstration. The G15, a bloc formed to confront the illusion that Kwara is anyone’s personal estate, staged a massive rally. In response, the governor’s camp barricaded the Emir’s palace to block the G15. Petty, predictable and dangerous.

This is not mere intra-party squabbling. The G15’s open confrontation with Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq and his anointed successor is a red flag. Ignore it, and the APC in Kwara risks implosion ahead of 2027.

History indicts us. The PDP’s collapse in 2019 offers the blueprint. The defection of heavyweights — Moshood Mustapha, Bio Ibrahim, Cook Olododo, Oba Abdulraheem and others who sabotaged from within, hollowed the party. O To Ge filled the void and swept the state.

Kwara voters have spoken twice. In 2019 they punished division. In 2023 they rewarded unity. To relapse into factional warfare now is to squander seven years of gains for ego.

The stakes in 2027 are existential. The opposition is regrouping. The electorate is less forgiving. The margin for error has vanished. A fractured APC will not withstand a competitive election.

President Bola Ahmed Tinubu must intervene, and decisively. Kwara is not peripheral to APC strategy. It is the birthplace of O To Ge — proof that entrenched structures can be upended by popular will. That same force will turn on the party, if the fuse is lighted.

The governor’s reconciliation committee is a charade. Its composition betrays its purpose: to bludgeon the G15 into submission to the governor’s preferred candidates. You cannot be judge and litigant. ‘Nemo judex in causa sua’.

Reconciliation must rest on three non-negotiables: real party supremacy over perso anointing. The 2027 process must be transparent, inclusive, and competitive. Imposition will calcify the fault lines. Genuine engagement with the G15. They command real structures across all 16 LGAs. Dismissing them is self-sabotage. Neutral arbitration. Any resolution must be brokered by an external, impartial body. A zero-sum outcome favoring one side will only deepen the crisis.

To raze the house over who gets the master bedroom is political lunacy. The APC still retains incumbency, federal alignment, and a record to defend. But advantage evaporates the moment strategy is sacrificed to vanity.

Mr. President, act now. Convene the stakeholders, enforce a level playing field, remind every actor that Kwara belongs to the APC and APC belongs to the people of Kwara.

The lesson of 2019 must not be relearned in 2027. The party cannot survive another self-inflicted wound.

Abdullateef Ishowo is the Director of Media and Strategic Communication to Senator Saliu Mustapha, representing Kwara Central.