Saliu Mustapha, senator representing Kwara Central, says he will defeat AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq, governor of Kwara, in the 2027 senatorial election.

Speaking in an interview on Channels Television on Friday, the senator said AbdulRazaq was a member of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) while he was involved in building the All Progressives Congress (APC).

Mustapha's interview came shortly after he defected from the APC and emerged as the PDP candidate for the Kwara Central senatorial seat.

According to him, leaving the APC was not an easy decision given his long-standing involvement in the formation of the party.

"I have played politics at the highest level. I was one time the deputy national chairman of CPC," Mustapha said.

"At the time Tony Momoh was sick, I consummated the merger that brought APC nationally. I didn't join."

He then questioned AbdulRazaq's political position during the period the APC was being formed.

"Where was Abdulrahman Abdulrazak then? Where was he then? He was in PDP then, fighting against us," he said.

Mustapha said his decision to leave the APC followed extensive consultations with his constituents and political stakeholders.

The lawmaker described the defection as a collective decision aimed at ending what he called "shenanigans" within the APC in Kwara.

He resigned from the APC on Friday after failing to secure its governorship ticket and subsequently losing the opportunity to return to the Senate on the party's platform.

Mustapha had contested the APC governorship primary held on May 22, which was won by Yakubu Danladi-Salihu, speaker of the Kwara State House of Assembly, with 94,990 votes.

AbdulRazaq subsequently emerged as the APC's preferred candidate for the Kwara Central senatorial seat.

Asked whether he could defeat AbdulRazaq in the senatorial contest, Mustapha expressed confidence.

"I will have won that election 12 o'clock before one o'clock," he said.

Asked specifically whether he meant he would defeat the governor, he replied: "Yes, it will be one election; Nigerians will be waiting to see the result."

The senator also said members of the G15, the Elders Caucus and the Otoge Progressives are favourably disposed to working with PDP candidates ahead of the 2027 elections.

According to him, the decision followed dissatisfaction with the management of the APC primaries and what he described as a lack of consultation and a sense of belonging.

Mustapha said Kwara had more than 160 aspirants for House of Assembly seats, about 17 governorship aspirants, 64 House of Representatives aspirants and 15 senatorial aspirants before the APC primaries.

"If there had been proper management and proper sense of belonging or consultation, we won't have gotten to this level," he said.

The lawmaker said several political parties approached the aggrieved stakeholders, but they settled for the PDP because of what he described as the party's support for President Bola Tinubu's 2027 ambition.

"We looked at the most friendly party, and the number one, or let's say the number one party outside APC supporting President Tinubu's ambition or presidential bid is PDP, the Wike-led faction," he said.

"That was why we decided to partner with them so as to bring an end to the new dynasty or shenanigans."