Barring last minutes changes, the former Youth Development and Sports Minister, Mallam Bolaji Abdullahi would emerge National Publicity Secretary of the ruling All progressive Congress (APC).
According to a report by The Guardian, Abdullahi, is expected to replace his Kwara kinsman, who is the Information and Culture minister, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, on the National Executive Council (NEC) of the party.
Mr. Abdullahi who joined the APC, alongside the Kwara State governor, Abdulfatah Ahmed, in the build up to the 2015 poll was first appointed Minister of Youth Development in 2011 and later asked to supervise the Sports Ministry before he was appointed substantive minister of sports in May 2012.
During his one-year tenure as Youth Development Minister, he initiated far-reaching reforms that were targeted at repositioning youth development efforts in Nigeria. He is notably remembered in the Youth Development ministry for his NYSC reforms. As Sports Minister, Mallam Abdullahi restored order to a crisis ridden Nigeria Football Federation (NFF); reformed the Nigeria Football League, attracting new corporate investments to the league; inspired a revolution in grassroots sports development through his Rhythm N’ Play initiative and midwifed a process that saw Nigeria winning the 2013 African Cup of Nations (AFCON) for the first time in 19 years, the U-17 FIFA World Cup in 2013 and Nigeria’s rise in Athletics from the fringes to the number one position in all three categories of Athletics competitions on the African continent.
The Guardian reports that Abdullahi’s appointment would be ratified at a zonal convention of the party in no distant time, adding that the party settled for him due to his pedigree as a former journalist and the fact that he hails from the same Kwara State as Lai Mohammed.
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