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Name: Saliu Mustapha
Date of Birth: 25 September 1972
Title: Turaki of Ilorin Emirate
Turbaned: 22 Oct. 2021
Title: Senator, Kwara Central Senatorial District
In Office: 13 June 2023 till date
Position/Office Held:
◦ Chairman Senate Committee on Agriculture Production, Services and Rural Development
Political Party: All Progressive Congress (APC)
LGA: Ilorin East Local Government
Ward: Gambari I
« Socials »
« Profile »
Saliu Mustapha, a Nigerian politician, Development Consultant, Business Mogul, Philanthropist, and the Senator representing Kwara Central Senatorial District. He was the national deputy chairman of the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC), one of the defunct political parties that merged to form the All Progressives Congress. He holds the traditional title of the Ilorin Emirate “Turaki” and is equally the Founder and Chairman of Saliu Mustapha Foundation.
« Early Life and Education »
Saliu Mustapha was born in Kaduna, Nigeria, Mustapha attended St. Bartholomew Primary School, Zaria, and Command Secondary School, Kaduna. He then proceeded to Kaduna Polytechnics where he earned a degree in Mineral Resources Engineering.
A lover of football and table tennis, Saliu Mustapha is widely traveled and speaks a number of Nigerian languages; including Hausa, Yoruba, Igbo, and Okun.
« Political Career »
A consummate politician of over 2 decades, he ventured into politics at an early age, becoming the National Publicity Secretary of the Progressive Liberation Party (PLP). He also served as the first National Publicity Secretary of the Progressive Action Congress (PAC). From 2005 to 2008, Mustapha served as the National Organizing Secretary of the Conference of Nigerian Political Parties (CNPP).
He became a member of the ANPP and was devoted to the presidential ambition of Muhammadu Buhari. In 2009, when a breakaway faction of the ANPP led by Muhammadu Buhari formed the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC), Mustapha was elected the national deputy chairman of the party in 2011. He held this position until the party merged and formed the All Progressives Congress. Mustapha is consistently known for his progressive ideology and he played a key role as a front liner in the merger process of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) in 2014.
By 2018, he contested for the governorship ticket of the party in his home State, Kwara, becoming one of the dominant candidates in the election. Similarly, in his quest to ensure the party is well managed to deliver the much-needed reforms in Nigeria, he joined the contest for the National Chairmanship seat of the APC in the party’s 2022 convention.
In 2022, during the All Progressive Congress (APC) primaries in Kwara State, Mustapha emerged as the candidate to represent the party in Kwara Central senatorial election defeating the incumbent senator Ibrahim Yahaya Oloriegbe.
The senatorial election in Kwara central was one of the most anticipated in the build-up to the 2023 general elections. The election had 11 contenders jostling for arguably the most prized Senate seat in Kwara state but at the end, Saliu Mustapha polled 109, 823 votes, while other candidates scored a combined total of 95,315 votes.
« Leadership, Awards & Honours »
Beyond politics and business, Mustapha is a passionate humanitarian who caters to the welfare and well-being of his people. Through his NGO, the Saliu Mustapha Foundation, he continues to impact lives and improve the living conditions of young people, the aged, women, and children in several communities across Kwara State and beyond.
In 2021, in recognition of his contributions to the development of the state, and especially his interventions against poverty and deprivation, he emerged as the new Turaki of Ilorin Emirate, a traditional title conferred on the most eminent sons of the Emirate by the Emir of Ilorin, Alhaji Dr. Ibrahim Sulu Gambari, CFR. The Turaki title, which in traditional politics of Nigeria’s northern Emirate, is usually described as “the face of the kingdom“.
- 2023 Chairman Senate Committee on Agriculture Production, Services and Rural Development
- 2021 Turbaned as the Turaki of Ilorin Emirate
- 2011 Deputy National Chairman, Congress for Progressive Change (CPC)
- 2005 National Organizing Secretary, Conference of Nigerian Political Parties (CNPP)
- 2003 First National Publicity Secretary, Progressive Action Congress (PAC)
- 2000 Publicity Secretary, Progressive Liberation Party (PLP)
