Smart Adeyemi (born 18 August 1960 at Iyara in Ijumu Local Government Area of Kogi State ) was elected Senator for the Kogi West constituency of

Kogi State Kogi State is a States of Nigeria, state in the North Central Nigeria, North Central region of Nigeria, bordered to the west by the states of Ekiti State, Ekiti and Kwara State, Kwara, to the north by the Federal Capital Territory, Nigeria, Fe ...

Nigeria Nigeria, officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf of Guinea in the Atlantic Ocean to the south. It covers an area of . With Demographics of Nigeria, ...

, taking office on 29 May 2007. He is a member of the APC. Re-elected as senator for the third time on the 30th of November 2019.

Early years

Smart Adeyemi was born on 18 August 1960. He earned a post-graduate diploma in Public Relations, diploma in Law, advanced diploma in Mass Communication, and master's in Public Administration from the

Federal University of Technology Owerri The Federal University of Technology Owerri (FUTO) is a federal government university in Owerri West, Owerri, the capital of Imo State, Nigeria. The university is bounded by the communities of Eziobodo, Ihiagwa, Obinze, Okolochi and Emeabia ...

, and became a journalist. He was National President of the Nigerian Union of Journalists from 1999 to 2006.

Political career

Adeyemi was elected to the Senate in April 2007. On assuming his Senate seat he was appointed to committees on Privatization, Industry, Federal Character & Inter-Government Affairs (Chairman), Federal Capital Territory and Appropriation. He was also appointed vice chairman of the Northern Senators Forum. In a mid-term evaluation of Senators in May 2009, ThisDay noted that Adeyemi had worked on bills on the State of the Nation Address and the Code of Conduct Bureau and Tribunal Act amendment, and sponsored three motions. In May 2010 the ''Daily Sun'' said Adeyemi had asked the

Economic and Financial Crimes Commission The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) is a Nigerian law enforcement and anti-graft agency that investigates financial crimes and unknown transactions such as advance fee fraud (419 fraud) and money laundering. The EFCC was establ ...

(EFCC) to start an investigation of members of the National Assembly who he alleged were corrupt. Adeyemi said that he had been misquoted. He said, "I never said this National Assembly is corrupt ..but if there are a few that are corrupt the EFCC should go ahead to expose them." Despite his denial, Senate President

David Mark David Alechenu Bonaventure Mark (; born 8 April 1948) is a retired Nigerian Army brigadier general and politician. He served as the 12th president of the Nigerian Senate from 2007 to 2015 and was the Senator for Nigerian National Assembly dele ...

announced a six-man ad hoc committee to investigate the issue, describing it as serious allegation. The committee was to be chaired by Senate Chief Whip Kanti Bello and to include Senators Ayogu Eze, Olorunnimbe Mamora, James Manager, Adamu Talba and Zainab Kure. Adeyemi's allegation was similar to one made by Senator Nuhu Aliyu from Niger State in January 2008, which caused a similar strong reaction from the other legislators. Adeyemi won the PDP primary to compete for re-election as Kogi West Senator in the April 2011 elections. However, a court nullified the PDP primary election on 4 April 2011, saying it did not follow due process as defined in the electoral act. A fresh primary was run on 7 April, in which Adeyemi defeated his opponent Abiye Abinso by 1,124 votes to two. In the elections of 9 April 2011, Adeyemi retained his seat. Adeyemi recently won for the third time, a senatorial seat to represent Kogi West Senatorial District; defeating Senator Dino Melaye in a supplementary election ordered by the country's apex court, for a fresh election to be conducted after Senator Dino Melaye's victory was nullified. Adeyemi won with a margin of over 20,000 votes.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Adeyemi, Smart Living people 1960 births Peoples Democratic Party members of the Senate (Nigeria) Senators of the 9th National Assembly (Nigeria) Senators of the 6th National Assembly (Nigeria) Kogi State politicians Yoruba politicians Federal University of Technology Owerri alumni Senators of the 7th National Assembly (Nigeria)