Demand for Refunds May Lead to Showdown between Gov. Abdulrazaq and Kwara APC Assembly Aspirants
Demand for refunds of money spent on nomination forms dominated discussions at last week’s meeting between Kwara governor, Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq and former All Progressive Congress (APC) Kwara House of Assembly aspirants, sources familiar with the meeting have disclosed.
The meeting, which was the governor’s first engagement with the Assembly aspirants since the May 2026 party primaries, was held at the Council Chamber of the Government House, Ilorin, the state capital.
No fewer than 158 aspirants purchased nomination forms under the APC to contest the 24 seats in the Kwara State House of Assembly in the 2027 general elections, with each aspirant spending at least N6 million to acquire the forms.
Following the outcome of the May primaries, a coalition of the aspirants had demanded a refund of expenses incurred on nomination forms, campaigns and consultations, describing the primary election process as flawed.
However, for months, the party leadership did not attend to their demands, nor did the governor, who is the leader of the party, meet with the aggrieved aspirants until last Wednesday, barely three days after a report emerged that the opposition PDP was working behind the scenes to woo the aspirants to work for the party ahead of next year’s general elections by offering to refund what they had spent on their nomination forms.
At the last Wednesday meeting, Governor Abdulrazaq reportedly declined to make a definite commitment on the refund but promised to look into the request and get back to the aspirants by Friday, 30 October.
“He told them he would look into the matter and get back to them on Friday. But as of now, he has yet to communicate any decision to them,” a source familiar with the meeting said.
Another source said the governor was displeased by reports that some of the aspirants had begun engaging with the opposition, adding that this might have influenced his reluctance to accede to their demand.
A mild drama reportedly ensued after the meeting when the governor directed that N10 million be shared among the aspirants as transport allowance for attending the meeting. The amount was said to have triggered complaints among some of the aspirants, who considered it little, particularly for those who travelled from distant parts of the state and from outside the state.
“Some of us travelled for hours from our local governments, and some from outside the state to honour that meeting, and what they wanted to give us as transport allowance was quite ridiculous. It was embarrassing, and we had to speak up,” one of the aspirants, who craved anonymity, told this medium.
Following the grumblings, the governor reportedly increased the allocation to N21 million. However, sources said the highest amount received by any aspirant was about N190,000. The development has reportedly heightened dissatisfaction among the aspirants, who are still awaiting a clear response from the governor to their demand for refunds.
As of the time of filing this report, the Kwara APC leadership had not issued any public statement addressing the aspirants’ refund demand, and it remains unclear when, or whether, the governor will formally respond.
The unresolved grievance comes at a sensitive period for the ruling party in Kwara, with the PDP reportedly intensifying efforts to woo disaffected APC Assembly aspirants ahead of the 2027 general elections.