Oyelola Yisa Ashiru (born 14 June 1955) is a Nigerian architect and politician, who was elected as a senator to represent Kwara South Senatorial District in the 9th Senate. He is the Chief Executive Officer of Capital Projects Limited, a real estate firm, with branches in Lagos,

Abuja Abuja () is the capital and eighth most populous city of Nigeria. Situated at the centre of the country within the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), it is a planned city built mainly in the 1980s based on a master plan by International Plann ...

and other West African countries.

Early life and education

Ashiru was born on 14 June 1955, in

Offa Offa (died 29 July 796 AD) was King of Mercia, a kingdom of Anglo-Saxon England, from 757 until his death. The son of Thingfrith and a descendant of Eowa, Offa came to the throne after a period of civil war following the assassination of Æt ...

Kwara State Kwara State ( yo, Ìpínlẹ̀ Kwárà), is a state in Western Nigeria, bordered to the east by Kogi State, to the north by Niger state, and to the south by Ekiti, Osun, and Oyo states, while its western border makes up part of the internation ...

Nigeria. He attended Iyeru okin primary school, Offa, before proceeding to Esie Iludun Anglican Grammar School in 1968. He completed his secondary education at Federal Government College, Sokoto, in 1974, and later studied environmental design and architecture at the University of Lagos where he graduated in 1980.

Political career

Having run for office on multiple occasions in 2018, Ashiru declared his intention to run as Senator of Kwara South senatorial district in the

2019 Nigerian general election General elections were held in Nigeria on 23 February 2019 to elect the President, Vice President, House of Representatives and the Senate. The elections had initially been scheduled for 16 February, but the Electoral Commission postponed the ...

, on the political platform of the People's Democratic Party (PDP). In August 2018, PDP members in Kwara State, including Lola Ashiru, decamped to

All Progressives Congress The All Progressives Congress (APC) is one of the two major contemporary political parties in Nigeria, along with the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). Founded on 6 February 2013 from a merger of Nigeria's three largest opposition parties, the ...

(APC) in order to campaign against the dynasty of

Bukola Saraki Abubakar Bukola Saraki, Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery, (born on 19 December 1962) is a Nigerian politician. He was the 13th President of the Senate of Nigeria from 2015 to 2019 and Chair of the 8th Nigeria National Assembly. He was ...

, who he accused of poorly administering Kwara state previously, for 16 years. In the APC

primary election Primary elections, or direct primary are a voting process by which voters can indicate their preference for their party's candidate, or a candidate in general, in an upcoming general election, local election, or by-election. Depending on the ...

, Ashiru won the senatorial ticket, after defeating Suleiman Ajadi and many others. On 23 February 2019, Ashiru won the senatorial election with 89,704 votes, defeating incumbent

Adebayo Rafiu Ibrahim Rafiu Adebayo Ibrahim PhD, FCIB (born 12 December 1966) was a senator of the Federal Republic of Nigeria from Kwara State. He represented Kwara South Senatorial District in the 8th National Assembly. Senator Ibrahim was the Chairman of the Sena ...

of PDP, who polled 45,175. After his inauguration into the 9th Senate on 11 June 2019, he was appointed the Vice Chairman Senate Committee on Housing and Vice Chairman Senate Committee on Public Procurement on 29 July 2019.

Assassination attempt

During a campaign tour to Ojoku in the Oyun area of Kwara state on 20 February 2019, Ashiru and his supporters were attacked and APC alleged that two of its members were shot dead by attackers loyal to the PDP. Ojoku is the home town of

, who was contesting the Kwara south senatorial seat in the

. On 22 February 2019,

, the incumbent senator of Kwara south was arrested in connection to the attack on Ashiru and his supporters.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ashiru, Lola 1955 births Living people People from Kwara State University of Lagos alumni Members of the Senate (Nigeria) All Progressives Congress politicians Peoples Democratic Party (Nigeria) politicians 21st-century Nigerian architects 20th-century Nigerian architects