2019 and Yobe: Who Takes Over from Governor Gaidam? (3) by Hassan Gimba

November 19, 2017

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In this edition we will present the possible gubernatorial aspirants of both the All Peoples Congress (APC) and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in alphabetical order. For now, these are those who have indicated interest, those whose body language has betrayed a signal or whose supporters are clamouring for them to throw in their hats into the murky ring.
Read also 2019 and Yobe: Who Takes Over from Governor Gaidam? (1)

APC

HE Abubakar D. Aliyu
Adamu Dala Dogo
Dr Ahmed Lawan
Babagoni Machina
Alhaji Ibrahim Bomoi
Hajiya Khadija Bukar Abba Ibrahim
Lawan Shettima Ali
Hon. Mai Mala Buni
Mustapha Yunusa Mai Haja
Alhaji Saleh Abubakar
Shettima Mohammed Saleh
Sidi Yakubu Karasuwa
Alhaji Tijjani Musa Tumsah

PDP

Alhaji Abba Gana Tata
Alhaji Adamu Maina Waziri
Dr Abdu Bulama
Alhaji Ibrahim Talba
Alhaji Mohammed Hassan
Alhaji Sabo Garba
Ambassador Umaru Iliya Damagum
Dr Yerima Lawan Ngama

Eng. Abubakar D. Aliyu

He was born 50 years ago. A younger brother of late Mamman Ali, he did his primary education in Jimeta, Yola and secondary school in Monguno, Borno State. After his secondary education, he went to Kaduna Polytechnic where he bagged a National Diploma (ND) in Civil Engineering.
He started his working career in 1987 with the Borno State Civil Service before going back to Kaduna Polytechnic for a Higher National Diploma (HND) in Civil Engineering. He then went to University of Maiduguri and obtained a Bachelor’s Degree in Civil and Water Resources Engineering.
He is a fellow of the Nigeria Society of Engineers (NSE) and the Council for the Regulation of Engineers in Nigeria (COREN).

Hon. Adamu Dala Dogo

He has been in the Yobe State House of Assembly since 1999 and the Speaker since 2011.

Dr Ahmed Ibrahim Lawan

Ahmed Ibrahim Lawan, who has been in the National Assembly since 1999, was born in 1959. He received a bachelor’s degree in geography from University of Maiduguri, a master’s degree in Remote Sensing from Ahmadu Bello University and a doctorate degree in remote sensing/GIS from Cranfield University, UK.
He was elected into the House of Representatives in 1999 and the Senate in 2007. He is currently the Senate Majority Leader.

Eng. Babagoni Machina

A Civil Engineer by profession, he has served as the Secretary to the Yobe State Government on three occasions. He once contested for the state’s governorship seat on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party in 1999.

Alhaji Ibrahim Mohammed Bomoi

He got an Ordinary Diploma (OD) in Accountancy from Kaduna Polytechnic, and a Post-Graduate diploma in Financial Management and a Masters in Business Administration (Finance). He has studied variously at Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University, Bauchi, Harvard University, Cambridge and Boston.
He started work as an Accountant, with the old Borno State civil service before transferring his services to the federal civil service. He was the pioneer Bursar of the Federal College of Education FCE (T), Potiskum before becoming the Auditor General of the Federal Capital Territory, retiring as the Director of Treasury, FCT, Abuja.

Khadija Bukar Abba Ibrahim

Born on the 6th January 1967 to the family of the late Waziri Ibrahim, second republic presidential candidate of the Great Nigeria Peoples Party (GNPP) and apostle of “Politics without Bitterness”, Khadija was elected into the House of Representatives for Damatura/Gujba/Gulani/Tarmuwa federal constituency after serving as a commissioner in 2015. In 2016, she was made the Minister of State for Foreign Affairs by President Muhammadu Buhari.
She attended Kaduna Capital School between 1972 and 1977 and in 1978 she began her secondary school education at Queen’s College, Lagos. In 1980, she proceeded to Headington School, Oxford, where she completed her secondary school education in 1983. In 1986, she obtained a National Diploma in Business and Finance from Pardworth College, Reading, UK. In 1989, she bagged a B.Sc degree in Business Studies and Sociology from Roehampton Institute for Higher Education, an affiliate of the University of Surrey.

Lawan Shettima Ali

He was a local government chairman, Special Adviser and National Secretary of the ANPP at various times. He is currently the state commissioner of works.

Hon. Mai Mala Buni

Honourable Mai Mala Buni started his political career as a Councillor and later on became the first State chairman of the ACD (which entered the 2007 general elections as the AC). He later became a Special Assistant to the Yobe Governor on Inter Party Affairs before being promoted to Special Adviser on Political and Legislative Matters.
From there he was made the Acting State Chairman of the ANPP and National Secretary of the APC after its formation. He has a diploma and a degree.

Eng. Mustapha Yunusa Mai Haja

He was born on 13th April 1963 in Nguru, Yobe State. He is an Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria graduate of Electrical Engineering from, a fellow of the Nigerian Society of Engineers and a member of COREN.
Currently the Director General of the National Emergency Management Agency, has worked in public and private organizations that includes National Electric Power Authority NEPA, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Afri Project Consortium and Buba Brothers Nigeria Limited.

Alhaji Saleh Abubakar

He was born in Gashu’a on November 27, 1958. He attended Central Primary School, Gashu’a 1965-1972, General Murtala Muhammed College (GMMC), Yola between 1972 and 1976, SBS Zaria 1977-78 and Ahmadu Bello University (ABU) Zaria 1979-1982 where he bagged B.Sc. degree in Political Science.
He started his career with the old Borno State Civil Service in 1983 where he left a year later to join the services of the Ministry of External Affairs (now Foreign Affairs) but he re-joined the services of old Borno State in 1989 as an Admin Officer.
After the creation of Yobe out of Borno in 1991, he was made the Director Political Affairs in the Governor’s Office and in 1995 he became Director Administration, also in the Governor’s Office. In 1999, he was appointed Deputy Permanent Secretary, Admin, a position he held till 2004 when he was posted to Ministry of Land and Survey as Deputy Permanent Secretary.
In 2007, the late Mamman Ali appointed him Permanent Secretary/Chief of Staff to the Governor. He has been Chief of Staff until his recent appointment as Head of Service.

Arc. Shettima Mohammed Saleh

He was a commissioner of works under the late Mamman Ali but decamped to the PDP and coordinated the PDP gubernatorial bid in the last election. He has rejoined the APC.

Hon. Sidi Yakubu Karasuwa

He was born 60 years ago in Karasuwa and attended Karasuwa Primary School in 1971, Borno College of Agriculture in 1983, Ahmadu Bello University in 1989 and Mordics Agricultural College, Denmark in 1995.

Alhaji Tijjani Musa Tumsah

He is a 1983 graduate of Business Development and Psychology of Malone College in Canton, Ohio, USA. He has served as a member of the State Executive Council of Yobe State as Commissioner in the Ministries of Agriculture and Natural Resources, Health and Human Services and Finance and Economic Development with two different governments. He was also a member of the National Constitutional Conference between 1994 and 1995.
A onetime State Chairman of the PDP, he contested for the governorship of the state under the flag of the AC. He was among those who midwifed the APC as ANPP National Secretary and was APC’s Interim National Secretary.
He is currently the Vice Chairman of the Presidential Committee on the North East Initiative.

PDP

Alhaji Abba Gana Tata

Born some 56 years ago, he came into political limelight when he was elected as Chairman of Bursari Local Government in 1999 on the platform of the PDP. He was also a onetime State Chairman of the PDP abd also a deputy gubernatorial candidate of the same party and later its senatorial candidate for the Yobe East Senatorial Zone.

Dr Abdu Bulama

He has a PhD in Chemistry and was teaching at Ramat Polytechnic, Maiduguri, Borno State, before he was made the pioneer Provost of the Federal College of Education FCE (T), Potiskum. After his tenure elapsed, he was appointed as the Rector of Federal Polytechnic Nasarawa.
He was appointed INEC Commissioner by President Olusegun Obasanjo and Minister of Science and Technology by President Goodluck Jonathan.

Adamu Maina Waziri

He was born on the 14^th of September 1952 and has a BSc in Political Science and an MBA both from Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria. He briefly lectured at the University of Maiduguri before he made a foray into politics. He was Special Assistant to the Minister of Agriculture, Senior Special Assistant to the President, Coordinator of the National Poverty Eradication program and Chairman of the Road Safety Commission and also Executive Secretary, Petroleum Technology Development Fund between 2005 and 2006.
The late President ‘Yar Adua appointed him Minister of State in the Ministry of Agriculture while President Goodluck Jonathan made him the Minister of Police Affairs on 6 April 2010.
A gubernatorial aspirant on the platform of the PDP, Waziri was the PDP’s Candidate for Yobe State Governor in the 2003, 2007 and 2015 elections.

Alhaji Ibrahim Talba

He is a seasoned bureaucrat who served in the civil service, starting from old Borno State before transferring to the federal service and rising to the apex as a Permanent Secretary. He contested the gubernatorial primaries of the PDP in 2016 but lost to Adamu Maina Waziri.

Alhaji Mohammed Hassan

Popularly called Dambu, he was born some 51 years ago, and has a BSc and MBA from Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria. He was the Head of IT at the Nigeria Security Printing and Minting Corporation before the late Mamman B. Ali made him the Commissioner of Finance in his cabinet.
He was elected the senator representing Yobe West Senatorial District in 2015.

Hon. Sabo Garba

Born 52 years ago in Potiskum, Sabo Garba, popularly known as “Garbu” is a retired Customs Officer. He represents Potiskum/Nangere Federal Constituency.

Ambassador Umaru Iliya Damagum

53 years old, he has a BSc and an MBA from University of Maiduguri. He worked briefly with the then Allied Bank before resigning and venturing into private entrepreneurship.
He joined politics, specifically the PDP in 1999 and was Nigeria’s Ambassador to Romania and Bulgaria. He has also served on the boards of a number of federal government agencies.

Dr Yerima Lawan Ngama

He has a BSc in Accountancy from the University of Maiduguri and MSc in Accountancy from the University of Glasgow in 1986 and a PhD in Money & Banking and Finance from the University of Birmingham in 1990.
He was a Minister of State, Finance from 2011 to 2014 and an aspirant for the PDP gubernatorial ticket that year.
In the next edition, we will highlight the strengths and weaknesses of each candidate, their support base, those they lean on, their minders and their chances.
Read also 2019 and Yobe: Who Takes Over from Governor Gaidam? (2)