2027: Defection Scare Hits Kwara APC as KWSG allegedly Begins ₦1Million Monthly Payments to 193 ward structures
Scheme could gulp ₦193million monthly, over ₦2.3billion annually if sustained; critics question alleged deployment of public funds for partisan mobilisation
The Kwara State Government has allegedly commenced the disbursement of ₦1 million monthly to political structures of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) in each of the 193 wards of the state, in what sources described as a new grassroots mobilisation scheme ahead of the 2027 general elections, Kwara Reporters has learnt.
Multiple sources familiar with the arrangement said the money is being presented as a “ward empowerment” initiative targeted at party executives, elders and members at the grassroots.
If the reported ₦1 million is paid to all 193 wards every month, the programme would amount to ₦193 million monthly and ₦2.316 billion over 12 months.
Sources said the initiative followed concerns within the ruling party over defections from the APC to the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), particularly after Senator Saliu Mustapha, who represents Kwara Central, left the APC and subsequently emerged as the PDP senatorial candidate for the district.
According to insiders, the party leadership recommended increased direct engagement and financial support for ward structures as part of efforts to strengthen the APC's grassroots machinery and stem further defections ahead of what is expected to be a fiercely contested 2027 election.
How The ₦1Million Is Allegedly Shared
A template obtained by Kwara Reporters provides a detailed breakdown of how each ward's ₦1 million allocation is purportedly to be distributed.
Under the arrangement, the ward chairman receives ₦50,000, while the secretary, treasurer, youth leader, women leader and vice-chairman receive ₦25,000 each. These six payments amount to ₦175,000.
Another 21 ward officials — including assistant secretary, assistant treasurer, assistant youth and women leaders, organising officials, financial and welfare secretaries, auditors, legal officers, two public relations officers, special-needs representative and four ex-officio members — are allocated ₦10,000 each, bringing their portion to ₦210,000.
Six party elders are to receive ₦10,000 each, totalling ₦60,000. Another ₦50,000 is allocated to the person designated to receive or coordinate the money, while ₦30,000 is earmarked for the production of a banner.
That brings expenditure on executives, elders, coordination and publicity to ₦525,000.
The remaining ₦475,000 is reportedly meant for ordinary party members, with 47 members receiving ₦10,000 each, leaving a balance of ₦5,000.
In other words, the entire ₦1 million allocation is exhausted within each ward every month under the template.
Across 193 wards, the formula would mean payments potentially reaching more than 9,000 rank-and-file APC members and thousands of party officials and elders each month.
Critics Raise Questions Over Source Of Funds
The development has, however, triggered questions over the source and legal status of the money.
Critics who spoke about the arrangement questioned why funds described as coming from the state government should be distributed according to an explicitly partisan template that identifies beneficiaries by their positions within the APC.
The crucial distinction is whether the money is APC money or public money.
There is nothing inherently unlawful about a political party using its own legitimately sourced funds to support its officials or organise its members, subject to applicable electoral and campaign-finance laws.
However, if the ₦1 million-per-ward payments are being financed from the Kwara State treasury, critics argue that substantially different constitutional and accountability questions arise.
Section 121 of the 1999 Constitution requires state expenditure to be provided for through the appropriation process. Where a need arises for expenditure for which no amount has been appropriated, the Constitution provides for a supplementary estimate and Supplementary Appropriation Bill.
The Constitution also provides under Section 15(5) that the state shall abolish “all corrupt practices and abuse of power.” Section 16 further directs government policy towards ensuring that national resources are distributed to serve the common good, while Section 17 establishes equality and justice as foundations of the social order.
Those provisions do not, by themselves, establish that the reported payments are unconstitutional. That determination would depend, among other things, on the actual source of the funds, the appropriation under which they were released, their stated governmental purpose and whether the beneficiaries were selected on the basis of party membership.
But critics say those are precisely the questions the government should answer.
They are demanding disclosure of the budget line from which the alleged ₦193 million monthly expenditure is being financed and an explanation of why a government-funded empowerment programme, if that is what it is, would allegedly be administered through APC ward executives rather than an open government programme accessible to residents irrespective of political affiliation.
At ₦193 million every month, sustaining the payments for six months would cost about ₦1.158 billion. A full year would cost approximately ₦2.316 billion.
2027 Battle Intensifies
The alleged payments are coming amid an increasingly tense political atmosphere in Kwara ahead of the 2027 elections.
Mustapha's movement to the PDP has significantly altered the political calculations in Kwara Central, where he is expected to seek another term in the Senate while the political machinery of Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq attempts to retain control of the district.
Sources within the political establishment said the APC leadership has become particularly concerned about maintaining the loyalty of grassroots members as opposition politicians intensify efforts to attract disaffected members of the ruling party.
Kwara Reporters could not independently establish from the information available whether the alleged ward payments are being drawn directly from the state treasury, another government-controlled account, or privately sourced APC funds.
The Kwara State Government and the APC should therefore be given an opportunity to respond specifically to the allegation and clarify the source, purpose and legal authority for the reported ₦1million monthly payments.
That clarification would be critical because, while political parties are entitled to finance their own mobilisation activities, the central allegation raised by the reported template is considerably more serious: whether taxpayers are being made to finance the grassroots political machinery of the ruling party ahead of the 2027 elections.
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