A former commercial motorcycle (okada) rider, Donatus Mathew, who contested and won the Kaura Federal Constituency seat of Kaduna State in the House of Representatives on the platform of the Labour Party (LP) in the 2023 general elections, has lost his bid to return to the National Assembly in 2027.
PrimeTimes Nigeria reports that Mathew, who defected to the All Progressives Congress (APC) after winning the 2023 election, lost the party’s primary ahead of the 2027 polls.
It would be recalled that the former okada rider rose to fame in 2023, riding on the Labour Party’s platform and defeating a four-term incumbent in Kaura Federal Constituency, polling 10,508 votes against his closest rival’s 10,297 votes in one of the biggest upsets recorded during the election in which Peter Obi was the party’s presidential candidate.
His victory under the Labour Party was widely celebrated as a symbol of grassroots political awakening, particularly at the peak of the “Obi wave” that swept across parts of the country during the presidential election campaign of former Labour Party candidate Peter Obi.
However, in December 2024, Mathew defected from the Labour Party to the APC, citing internal crises within the opposition party and the need for broader political stability.
He said, “You cannot just work on the decision of the people at the constituency level because you are dealing with people with different levels of understanding.
“I am taking this decision based on conviction. That is why whether you like it or not, there are people within the constituency who are convinced that it (defection) is the right decision for them. There are those who are sceptical, waiting for the outcome.”
Mathew reportedly polled just 255 votes in the APC primaries ahead of the 2027 elections, while his rival secured 1,085 votes in the contest, effectively ending his fairy tale run in the National Assembly.
The okada rider turned lawmaker was born in 1988 in Kpak, Kagoro Chiefdom of Kaura Local Government Area in Kaduna State.
He attended LGEA Primary School in Kadarko before proceeding to Saint Jani Seminary School and later Teachers’ College, Kagoro, where he completed his secondary education. He subsequently earned a degree in philosophy from Saint Albert Institute.
Before entering national politics, Mathew worked as an Okada rider, a job he once said helped him survive during difficult economic times and unemployment.
Other former LP federal lawmakers, who defected to the APC only to lose their re-election tickets in the APC primaries, include: Esosa Iyawe, who lost Oredo Federal Constituency, Edo State, to Dr Paddy Iyamu; Senator Neda Imasuen, Edo South; Tochukwu Okere (Imo); Bassey Akiba (Cross River); and Daulyop Fom (Plateau), among others.