The last few days have been marked by conflicting narratives over the proposed coalition between the main opposition party in Kwara State, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), and aggrieved members of the All Progressives Congress (APC) operating under the umbrella of the G15, which later metamorphosed into The Otoge Progressives (T.O.P.), particularly over claims that the Kwara Central Senatorial ticket has been conceded to the group.
However, reliable sources familiar with the negotiations between the PDP and leaders of T.O.P. have debunked reports that the Kwara Central Senatorial ticket has been conceded to Mallam Saliu Mustapha, describing the reports as a distortion of the facts surrounding the negotiations.
According to one of the sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorised to speak publicly on behalf of either party, the negotiations included an arrangement under which the G15 would be allocated one senatorial ticket in Kwara North, two House of Representatives tickets and six House of Assembly tickets.
“Kwara Central was never part of the negotiations,” the source stated.
To independently verify the claim, this medium also contacted a senior member of the G15, who confirmed that negotiations between the two sides were still ongoing.
According to the senior G15 member, the group is still lobbying for two of the three senatorial tickets in the state. However, the demand has, so far, not yielded a positive outcome.
The development suggests that the question of who will secure the PDP’s Kwara Central Senatorial ticket remains unresolved, despite claims circulating in some quarters that the ticket has already been allocated to Saliu Mustapha.
The coming days are expected to provide greater clarity on whether the PDP leadership will yield to the demands of the G15 or maintain its reported initial arrangement of reserving the Kwara Central Senatorial ticket for Hon. Mashood Mustapha, popularly known as MM; a longtime ally of the party’s leader, Dr. Bukola Saraki.
For now, sources close to the negotiations maintain that no final agreement has been reached on the Kwara Central ticket, and that discussions between the PDP and the T.O.P. remain ongoing.