Ex-JAMB Scribe Yusuf Lawal Set to Emerge as Abdulrasaq’s Chief of Staff
- The scrabble for the Chief of Staff position in Kwara State ahead of the May 29 inauguration has reached a fever pitch
- Sources have confirmed that the position had already been ceded and processes finalised by Governor Abdulrazaq Abdulrahman
- A former director at the Joint Admissions and Matriculations Board (JAMB), Dr Yusuf Lawal is said to be in pole position for the coveted office
Barring any last-minute change, a former Director at the Joint Admissions and Matriculations Board (JAMB), Dr Yusuf Lawal, will be appointed Chief of Staff to the Kwara state Governor, Abdulrazaq Abdulrahman.
Impeccable sources said the paperwork was being finalised, and the appointment would be announced officially after the Governor is sworn in for his second term in May.
Source: Facebook
The 60-year-old, the governor's cousin, will be the second person to occupy the office since the death of the former Chief of Staff, Aminu Logun, who died of COVID-19 in 2020.
After leaving JAMB in 2022, Lawal retired to the University of Abuja, where he assisted in the administrative division of the institution.
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Influence of Governors’ Siblings
Legit.ng reliably gathered that the appointment was masterminded by the Governor’s influential siblings, Dr Isiaka Abdulrazaq, a former NNPC official, and Khairat Kwadabe-Abdulrazaq, a former Senator representing the Federal Capital Territory.
The duo, sources said, had wielded so much influence since the administration’s inception in 2015.
According to a source privy to their moves, the duo have also compiled a list of people who will hold top administrative positions for the next four years.
One of those featured on the list is Lawal, who was penned as the Chief of Staff, an office considered very powerful and influential in the day-to-day running of the state house.
“They mounted pressure on the governor to accede to the request,” a source confided to our reporter.
Sources added that the office of the Chief of Staff grants some of Abdulrazaq access to juicy contracts and benefits.
In the early period of Abdulrasaq’s administration, there were allegations that the governor’s sister was awarded several multi-million contracts. However, the allegations remained unproven till today.
Past moves
Checks also showed that the choice of the late Chief of Staff, Aminu Adisa Logun, was the idea of the influential members of the Abdulrazaq family.
However, when Logun died of COVID-19 in 2020, Isiaka and Kwadebe-Abdulrazaq tried to replace him with Prince Abdulkadir Mahee. Still, the governor changed his mind at the 11th hour even though it had been reported.
Prince Mahee was a former Clerk of the State House of Assembly and a close friend of Isiaka.
Jubilation as 26-year-old Rukayat Shittu wins House of Assembly seat in key Northern state
In another development, Legit.ng reported that a 26-year-old Rukayat Shittu had won a seat in the Kwara State House of Parliaments.
A candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Shittu was declared the winner of the election for the Owode/Onire state constituency in Kwara.
By winning, she becomes the youngest state House of Assembly lawmaker-elect in the history of Nigeria's democracy.
Source: Legit.ng
