File photo: Kwara State Governor, AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq.
The All Progressives Congress governorship candidate in Kwara State, Yakubu Salihu-Danladi, has defended his emergence as the party’s flag bearer ahead of the 2027 election, denying claims that Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq imposed him on the party.
Danladi-Salihu, who is the Speaker of the State House of Assembly, said his seven years in charge of the legislature had equipped him with the experience required to lead the state.
He insisted that his competence should be judged by his record rather than assumptions about the governor’s influence on his candidacy.
In a video clip obtained by The PUNCH on Monday, Danladi-Salihu also rejected the description of the 10th Assembly as a rubber-stamp legislature.
He said. “I’m not brought in by the governor. You engage me, you will know whether I am competent or not. If I am not competent, my good friends, my colleagues, 23 of them; they would have removed me for the last seven years.”
Seeking to establish his credentials for the governorship, the APC candidate cited his ability to manage lawmakers with different interests without major rancour as evidence of his leadership capacity.
He also claimed that his experience in the legislature surpassed that of other politicians contesting for the state’s top political office.
“An individual to manage legislators, to manage the legislative arm of government for seven years without rancour, no problem, things are moving, you will know that that person is capable and competent.
“People I am contesting with today, sincerely, I have more experience than any of them,” he boasted.
The Speaker’s defence extended to the relationship between the legislature and the executive, which has attracted criticism from those who accuse the Assembly of failing to hold the governor accountable.
Danladi-Salihu questioned why lawmakers should oppose the governor when they considered his decisions appropriate, arguing that disagreement was not necessary to demonstrate the independence of the legislature.
“What is rubber stamp? If you are doing the right thing and you say this is the right thing, must I fight you? If the executive governor is doing the right thing, what is the essence of the legislator fighting the executive?” he asked.
He maintained that lawmakers had a responsibility to advise the executive when policies or proposals required corrections, rather than engage in confrontation for its own sake.
Danladi-Salihu further argued that prior consultations between the executive and the Assembly on government proposals should not be interpreted as evidence that lawmakers had surrendered their oversight responsibilities.
“There is nothing this governor will bring to the Assembly that we were not carried along; before he even brings it, so what makes it a rubber stamp?” he queried.
He also challenged critics to consider the development recorded in Kwara under AbdulRazaq’s administration before describing the legislature as a rubber stamp.
“If they are saying rubber stamp, is there development in Kwara? If yes, why are they calling the Assembly a rubber stamp? If no, that’s when they will challenge us. We have a lot of things to show that yes, we are not rubber-stamped. We have a goal,” the APC candidate affirmed.
Danladi-Salihu will contest the 2027 governorship election as the APC candidate, with the poll set to determine AbdulRazaq’s successor when his tenure expires.