The Senator

Political Journey

Senator Saliu Mustapha is a development consultant, business mogul, philanthropist and politician who currently represents Kwara Central in the Nigerian Senate.

Born in Kaduna State, North Western Nigeria, where he spent his early life; Mustapha attended St. Bartholomew Primary School, Zaria, Command Secondary School, Kaduna, and the Kaduna Polytechnics, where he earned a qualification in Mineral Resources Engineering.

A consummate politician of over 2 decades, he ventured into politics at an early age, and would rise through the ranks to becoming the Deputy National Chairman of the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC).

Having consistently kept faith with his progressive ideology for over a decade before 2013 when about four different political parties fused together to form what is today’s ruling party in Nigeria, the All Progressives Congress (APC); Saliu Mustapha played a key role as a front liner in the merger process. Since then, he continues to showcase his commitment to progressive ideology and governance in Nigeria as a stakeholder of the APC, both in his home state and at the national level. And it was in his quest to ensure the party was well managed to deliver the much needed reforms in Nigeria that he joined the contest for the National Chairmanship seat in the 2022 convention, an aspiration that ended in his submission to the party’s consensus arrangement which produced Senator Abdullahi Adamu.

Big Impacts

Beyond politics and business, Mustapha is a passionate humanitarian who caters to the welfare and wellbeing of his people. Through his NGO, the Saliu Mustapha Foundation, he continues to impact lives and improve the living condition of young people, the aged, women and children in several communities across Kwara State and beyond. In a single year, 2021, his Foundation provided business grants to over 200 small and medium scale enterprises in Kwara State.

He is also famed for his huge interventions in the areas of youth empowerment and human capital development, putting resources into training young business owners, easing access to medical care for the poor; providing support for widows and generally advancing the growth and development of communities in his home state.

It was in recognition of his unmatched contributions and impacts on the populace that the Emir of Ilorin, Alhaji Dr. Ibrahim Sulu Gambari, CFR conferred on him the title of Turaki, a traditional honour conferred on the most eminent sons of the Emirate.

Easily one of the most influential political figures in Kwara State, the love he enjoys from the majority of everyday people across communities in his state has been the mainstay of Senator Mustapha’s politics. In the run-up to the 2023 General Elections, the people of Kwara Central yearned for a politician with a good history of being in touch with the grassroots, someone with a track record of attending to the pressing needs of an average community person; and Senator Saliu Mustapha fit the bill.

A Senator For All

Considering the competitiveness of the Kwara Central senatorial seat and the caliber of politicians within the senatorial district; it would take someone who truly lives in the hearts and minds of the people to stand a chance. But that connection with the everyday people is what stands Senator Mustapha out from the pack; he not only listens but also engages, and that is the difference he brings to the table in Kwara Central as Senator.

All through the campaigns, he frequently held engagement sessions to harness inputs from community stakeholders, a tradition he is poised to continue with the planned quarterly town hall meeting and the introduction of E-participation, a digital platform through which the tech-savvy youngsters in particular can contribute to the legislative agenda being put forward on their behalf; and which will also serve as a forum for continuous engagement, awareness and learning.

Still, putting the people at the heart of his legislative assignment, Senator Mustapha runs an inclusive representation, one that is deep in community interface and close to the grassroots. With fully functional constituency offices across the four LGAs that constitute Kwara Central and the consequent appointment of a corresponding number of Legislative Aides (LAs) saddled with the task of collating data and feedback from the people, including those in remote villages; coupled with the purchase of vehicles for constituency outreach, Senator Mustapha doubtless came fully prepared to raise the bar and take the office of Kwara Central Senator a notch higher than his predecessors.

Senator Saliu Mustapha has also proven to have a good mastery of how to negotiate power and influence. With his active participation in the election of Senator Godswill Obot Akpabio as Senate President, Senator Mustapha has emerged as one of the indisputable powerbrokers in the 10th Senate, forging a strategic relationship that places him at a vantage position to effectively drive his legislative initiatives in the areas of agriculture, grassroots development, employment, women and youth empowerment; as well as community-focused interventions aimed at combating multidimensional poverty across his senatorial district.

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