Saraki Still in Tinubu's Corner, Says Kwara Senator Who Just Quit APC

Senator Saliu Mustapha, representing Kwara Central, says former Senate President Bukola Saraki is backing the rainbow coalition assembled by Nyesom Wike in support of President Bola Tinubu’s second term bid, even as Mustapha himself has defected from the APC to the PDP.

Speaking on Channels Television’s Politics Today, Mustapha said his exit from the ruling party does not mean he has abandoned Tinubu’s reelection cause, describing the rainbow coalition established by FCT Minister Wike in Rivers State as having extended its reach into Kwara.

He said Saraki, who is not contesting for any office this cycle, is similarly supporting the coalition working to strengthen Tinubu’s chances, aligning himself with the FCT Minister’s stated position despite being in a different party.

Mustapha linked his defection to a group called The Otoge Progressives, which he said emerged from a coalition of governorship aspirants who lost the APC primary and later felt alienated by how Governor Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq is running the party in Kwara, naming Yahaya Seriki, Ibrahim Oloriegbe, Dele Belgore and others as members.

He confirmed picking up the PDP senatorial nomination form for Kwara Central shortly after quitting the APC, securing the ticket through substitution rather than a primary following a waiver from the party.

By Asiwaju Adekunle Saheed