Mallam Saliu Mustapha’s sojourn in the Political terrain is divine. Special thanks to his creator for granting him his heart desires very early in life. He is a child born with luck and grace. Despite the sheer luck, all he achieved today is through dint of hard work laced with his doggedness and his unrelenting spirit. When many never believed in his dreams and aspiration, the Mineral Resources graduate from Kaduna Polytechnic believed in himself as he chased his dreams with much gusto. This led him to move astronomically politically serving as the first national publicity secretary of the Progressive Action Congress (PAC); a now-defunct political party. He later became a member of the All Nigeria peoples Party ANPP, where he played a pivotal role in the presidential ambition of Muhammadu Buhari.
In 2009, after a breakaway faction of the ANPP led by Buhari formed the Congress for Progressive Change CPC, Mustapha became the national deputy chairman of the party one of the youngest in the country. In his capacity as the deputy chairman of the party, the Ilorin-born business mogul worked assiduously to ensure the party ran smoothly and produce credible candidates during elections. After many years, his party later merged to form the ruling All Progressives Congress. In 2018, he jostled to become the Governor of Kwara State under the ruling APC but was denied the opportunity to serve his people.
Instead of condemning the winner of the election, a calculative Turaki Ilorin remained in the party and worked assiduously for Governor Abdulrazak Abdulrahman ensuring his tenure record unprecedented success. He remained a trusted and formidable ally building his own image across the state and making friends. He never nurtured any bad blood rather he embraced peace and worked for the progress of the state. Little did he know that all he was doing for the state one day he will come to reap the fruit of his labour. In the run-up to the 2023 election, Mustapha clinched the All Progressives Congress APC ticket to contest for the Kwara Central Senatorial district. While he was campaigning, all hands were on deck for him as the governor and those within his district say it was an opportunity to pay him back for his years of patience, loyalty and perseverance. On the day of his election to his amazement, he saw an overwhelming crowd of people who came out to cast their ballot in his favour he was nearly moved to tears. The people he has been good to through his foundation all galvanised themselves to pay him back ensuring he represents them at the 10th Senate. At the just concluded election, he pulled a total vote of 108,230 to beat his closest rival Bolaji Abdullahi of the Peoples Democratic Party PDP who scored 69,202.
Sources say; Turaki is a man of his word. Anything he says he will do. “He has been patient all this while and has worked for the party so he deserves the support he is getting. He has remained consistent for years so it’s time to enjoy what he has laboured for.”
