For most of the Fourth Republic, governorship politics in Kwara meant the politics of one family. The late Olusola Saraki, a former Senate Leader, was the state’s dominant power broker from the 1970s, and his son Bukola Saraki governed the state for eight years before handing over to his own chosen successor. The family’s grip was broken in 2019 by a coalition campaign called “O to ge”, Yoruba for “Enough is enough”.
1999 and 2003: Lawal and the Sarakis
Mohammed Alabi Lawal, a retired naval officer, won the January 1999 election for the All People’s Party with 283,136 votes against 174,205 for the PDP’s Muhammed Alimi AbdulRazaq, with the elder Saraki’s backing. The two men soon fell out. In April 2003 the Sarakis moved to the PDP and Bukola Saraki, a medical doctor and presidential aide, unseated Lawal by 322,242 votes to 199,855.
2007: Saraki’s landslide
Saraki was re-elected in April 2007 with 572,938 votes, against just 63,743 for Gbenga Olawepo-Hashim of the Democratic People’s Party. He went on to chair the Nigeria Governors’ Forum.
2011 and 2015: Abdulfatah Ahmed
Saraki’s former finance commissioner, Abdulfatah Ahmed, won for the PDP in April 2011 with 254,969 votes against 152,580 for Dele Belgore of the Action Congress of Nigeria. In 2014 Saraki and Ahmed led the Kwara PDP into the new APC, and in April 2015 Ahmed was re-elected on the APC ticket with 295,832 votes to 115,220 for the PDP’s Simon Ajibola, while the APC swept the state assembly. Saraki, by then a senator, became Senate President that June against his new party’s wishes.
2019: O to ge
Saraki and Ahmed returned to the PDP in 2018. The APC, now led in Kwara by the Saraki family’s opponents, ran the 2019 campaign as a referendum on the dynasty under the slogan “O to ge”. It worked. In February 2019 Saraki lost his own Senate seat, and on 9 March AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq, a businessman and son of the late lawyer and nationalist AbdulGaniyu Folorunsho AbdulRazaq, won the governorship with 331,546 votes (73%) against 114,754 for the PDP’s Razak Atunwa, carrying all 16 local governments.
2023: AbdulRazaq’s second term
AbdulRazaq was re-elected on 18 March 2023 with 273,424 votes (59.4%) against 155,490 for the PDP’s Shuaib Yaman Abdullahi. Hakeem Lawal, son of the late former governor Mohammed Lawal, came third for the SDP with 18,922.
The results at a glance
| Year | Winner (party) | Votes | Runner-up (party) | Votes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1999 | Mohammed Lawal (APP) | 283,136 | Muhammed Alimi AbdulRazaq (PDP) | 174,205 |
| 2003 | Bukola Saraki (PDP) | 322,242 | Mohammed Lawal (ANPP) | 199,855 |
| 2007 | Bukola Saraki (PDP) | 572,938 | Gbenga Olawepo-Hashim (DPP) | 63,743 |
| 2011 | Abdulfatah Ahmed (PDP) | 254,969 | Dele Belgore (ACN) | 152,580 |
| 2015 | Abdulfatah Ahmed (APC) | 295,832 | Simon Ajibola (PDP) | 115,220 |
| 2019 | AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq (APC) | 331,546 | Razak Atunwa (PDP) | 114,754 |
| 2023 | AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq (APC) | 273,424 | Shuaib Yaman Abdullahi (PDP) | 155,490 |
2027: the Speaker
AbdulRazaq is term-limited. In May 2026 the Speaker of the state assembly, Yakubu Danladi-Salihu, won a contested APC primary. INEC’s final list for the 6 February 2027 election names Kawu Sulaiman Bolakale for the PDP and Zakari Mohammed for the ADC (names as INEC lists them).
