Society Watch
In 2015, Jubril Abdulmumin staked his name, integrity and ambition to literally market his preferred candidate, Yakubu Dogara, during the hot contest for the Speakership of the House the Representatives. Those who underestimated him knew better by the time Dogara emerged the Speaker before their eyes. But they later parted ways in controversial circumstances, after Abdulmumin accused Dogara and others of padding the national budget, a development that led to Abdulmumin’s suspension for a year.
Four years later, Abdulmumin, a member representing Kiru/Bebeji Federal Constituency, Kano State, re-enacted his winning strategies when his preferred candidate, Femi Gbajabiamila of the All Progressives Congress (APC) expressed his interest to contest for the Speaker of the House of Representatives. During the campaigns, he deployed his time-tested strategies to ‘brand and market’ Gbajabiamila among his colleagues and stakeholders.
No doubt, his actions were based on a personal conviction in his capacity as the Director-General of the campaign organisation. And his efforts contributed to the emergence of Gbajabiamila as Speaker eventually. However, in 2019 the Kano State-born politician couldn’t return to the Lower Chamber, as he was defeated by the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Alli Datti-Yako.
Though he was initially re-elected in the last year’s election, he was later sacked by the court that ruled that a fresh election be held in the constituency. He went back home with his tail between his legs in the end. Sadly, his political odyssey took a new twist, as his supporters and friends allegedly abandoned him, leaving him like flotsam on the sea of politics in Nigeria.
Last year, he was brought out of the cold when he was compensated by President Muhammadu Buhari as an Executive Director at the Federal Housing Authority. Reliable sources claimed that the politician, who holds a PhD from the University of Abuja, is scheming to relaunch his political career back to relevance, as he is planning to vie for the number one job of the state.
Consequently, he is said to have begun wide consultancy across the state known as the Centre of Commerce.
