Yahaya Seriki: From local player to Abuja force
Read full report here: The show-off race: How Kwara big guys tried to outplay one another during APC convention in Abuja
Once seen largely as a local figure, Yahaya Seriki has, in recent years, reinvented himself as a major player within Abuja’s power circuit.
A billionaire business mogul. Some two years back, he was still largely an Ilorin man, not known beyond Kwara and Plateau State, silently mining and building structures in Kwara.
He had his eyes on the Kwara Central senatorial seat in 2023 but lost the primary to Saliu Mustapha. Within his camp, there was a belief that the outcome was influenced by forces outside the state, particularly pressure from Abuja. He was the governor’s favourite then, but still couldn’t get the ticket, that loss appears to now shape his political thinking.
Since then, he has deliberately relocated his base of influence. Today, he moves within elite Abuja circles, leveraging both wealth and access. His mining empire, one of the largest in the country, has become a tool of influence he previously underutilised.
The transformation is visible. He is now no longer the ‘Ambassador’ we know in Kwara; the Gambari-born politician is now seen around the corridors of power, in the company of top figures, including Seyi Tinubu and other key actors.
His Maitama palatial mansion has played host to influential visitors like Oni of Ife, the APC National Chairman and the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), signaling a man steadily inserting himself into the inner circle.
He is also one of those who championed the creation of one of the largest youth campaign movements for the president’s re-election, all while not forgetting his own ambition of becoming the state governor, the primary purpose of his move to Abuja.
So, for him, he has enough to show in Abuja after over two years of staying there. The convention was the right time to show off, and he indeed did. Videos of him moving with Abuja’s power brokers, supporters adorned in his colours, and choreographed displays of loyalty all reinforced one message: he now has weight in Abuja.
If he isn’t an envious type, Seriki should indeed be a proud boy. He has achieved a lot within his short time in Abuja.
If it were some two years back, he would have been a political orphan in Abuja with no one to look at. If the ticket is today to be decided at the country’s capital city, he holds a big stake.
