Senator Ashafa Mobilises Support for Tinubu, Hamzat in Strategic Political Push - THISDAYLIVE
Senator Gbenga Ashafa has thrown his weight behind President Bola Tinubu and Obafemi Hamzat, the Lagos deputy governor and APC governorship candidate, and is mobilising party members, community leaders and other stakeholders behind both.
For those who may have forgotten about his luminescence, Ashafa represented Lagos East in the Senate for two terms, from 2011 to 2019. The district includes Ikorodu, Epe and Ibeju-Lekki, so his word carries weight in communities across the East.
The man was born on Lagos Island in 1955 and lost his father at seven. His mother, a textile and gold trader at Idumota Market known as Mama Bareehu, raised him. He studied biological sciences at Morgan State University, graduating cum laude in 1978, and earned a master’s in public health administration from the University of Tennessee in 1979. He founded Beverage Specialties Limited in 1996.
His reputation was built earlier in lands. As Executive Secretary and Permanent Secretary of the Lagos State Ministry of Lands from 2001 to 2010, he grew its revenue from N1 billion to N13.23 billion. He also introduced an electronic document system in the land registry, laying the groundwork for the electronic Certificate of Occupancy, the land title document, and revived nine dead government housing schemes while creating five new ones.
In the Senate, it was Ashafa that chaired the Land Transport committee from 2015 to 2019, earned the nickname The Rail Man for pushing the legal framework to modernise Nigeria’s ageing railways, and championed the National Transport Commission Bill.
In August 2020, the presidency appointed him head of the Federal Housing Authority (FHA), a post he held until 2024. His tenure delivered completed, affordable housing in all six geopolitical zones, including estates in Zuba, Bwari, Lugbe, Apo/Guzape and Kebbi. He also sponsored amendments to the NDLEA Act imposing tougher penalties on drug-trafficking syndicates.
On account of all of these (and many more), the value of Ashafa to the campaign is practical. When he speaks about land titles, people listen; when he speaks about rail and housing, people listen; when he speaks about politics and candidates worthy of support, it is only natural for people to listen, especially voters in his old district who know his record.
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