The camps of former Speaker of the Kaduna State House of Assembly, Yusuf Ibrahim Zailani, and Kaduna Central senatorial aspirant, Yerima Shettima, have rejected the endorsement of former Senator Shehu Sani as the preferred candidate for Kaduna Central ahead of the 2027 general elections.
The rejection followed Sani’s endorsement by certain stakeholders of the APC from Zone 2 of Kaduna State during a meeting on Wednesday. The endorsement was led by the Commissioner for Local Government Affairs, Sadiq Mamman Lagos, who said Sani was chosen based on his performance between 2015 and 2019.
However, Musa Aliyu Khalid, Campaign Director for the former Speaker, dismissed the endorsement, insisting that politics should not be controlled by a few individuals.
“Politics belongs to the people, not to one person alone. Just because someone is endorsed does not mean he has already won the election,” he said.
Similarly, the Capacity Movement, a group backing Yerima Shettima, described the exercise as undemocratic. In a statement signed by its President, Shehu Sani Sado, the group condemned the attempt to impose a candidate and insisted on a transparent direct primary election.
Dele Fashomi, seasoned journalist and communication teacher, is a holder of Master of Arts degree in Communication and Language Arts from the University of Ibadan in 1992/93.
Earlier, he had bagged a Bachelor degree from the same university in 1984, after which he proceeded to the Nigerian Institute of Journalism, Lagos, in 1990, for a postgraduate diploma in Journalism.
He had done many courses in communication, including the EU-BBC Editing Course in 2002.
Mr. Fashomi combines effectively the practice, research and teaching of communication. And to date, he has published two academic works in communication: Issues in Communication Technology and Policy (2010) and Economic and Social Issues in Advertising and PR (2013).
He had his first break in the Nigerian media in Concord Newspapers in 1990 and today, he has over two and half decades experience earned in several newspapers.
He has been part of many start-ups, such as The Republic (1987), The Comet (1999), The Anchor 2001 – 2002; Sun Newspapers (2003); Westerner newsmagazine (2005 – 2010) as Editor; National Life (2011) as Sunday Editor, and Newswatch Newspapers (2012- 2016) as Daily Editor.
Dele Fashomi is now the Publisher/Editor-in-Chief of Newstide247.com newspaper online, which he started in July 2015. He is also into biography writing, with many books in his trail, some of which he wrote alone and one he co- authored with his mentor, Mr Dare Babarinsa, entitled: Olabiyi Durojaiye – DARE TO BE DiFFERENT. He also guided and collaborated with Pa Olatunji Odusanya in writing his autobiography – AGAINST ALL ODDS. There are many other books in the works under his pen.
