The former All Progressives Congress (APC) Kwara State governorship aspirant in 2019, Professor Abdulmumin Yinka Ajia has defected to the African Democratic Congress (ADC), declaring for the same seat in 2027.

The Professor of Business Administration at Lincoln University, United States, promised to digitalise governance if given the opportunity.

Prof. Ajia, at the declaration on Tuesday, promised that his government would explore digital governance where every literate citizen would have access to government via Internet, if given the opportunity.

He assured that: “our government shall move beyond publishing budgets toward citizen accessible tracking of projects, contracts, and outcomnes.”

He, however, disclosed that his government philosophy would center on: “systems repair” for Kwara State.

Delivering his declaration address titled: “Systems First: A New Direction for Kwara,” Ajia argued that the core challenge facing Nigerian governance is not the failure of citizens but the failure of systems.

“People do not fail first. Systems fail first,” Ajia said. “When systems work, people rise. When systems collapse, people adapt just to survive,” he posited.

He emphasized that his political approach would prioritize governance systems that produce consistent results rather than personality driven politics or symbolic projects.

According to Ajia, governance in Kwara must shift from: Projects without systems, discretion-based access to opportunity,
Top-down governance models toward predictable, accountable, and transparent institutions and evidence-based governance, grounding his argument in publicly available governance data.

He referenced fiscal transparency assessments by BudglT., which ranked Kwara 12th nationally in the State Fiscal Transparency League for O1 2025, while noting that further progress is needed to make budget data more usable and accessible to citizens.

The policy analyst, also highlighted reforms documented by the World Bank showing improvements in business registration and construction permit processes in Ilorin through regulatory changes.

Ajia outlined a four pillar framework that will guide his political work within the ADC as:
Opportunity, Systems Buildings, credible jobs and enterprise pipeline that rewards effort and reduces friction for small businesses.

He promised to strengthen reliability in healthcare, education, and other public services through process improvement and frontline accountability.

Ajia framned his declaration as an invitation to a broad coalition of citizens, “If we want a different Kwara, we must build politics differently,” he said.

He called on professionals, youth leaders, women leaders, diaspora Kwarans, traditional institutions, and civil society actors to participate in building what he described as a governance culture based on systems design rather than political theatries.

Addressing Public Skepticism, Ajia acknowledged widespread political distrust among Nigerians, urging citizens to judge
political actors not by excitement but by discipline and clarity.