Deputy Governors Series(2) Bird fighter makes deputy governors’list in North-West
Senatorial seat in 2003 and 2007 on the platform of the ANPP and lost. In 2011, he tried again on CPC platform. He also lost.
Governor Aminu Masari settled for Yakubu after lot of political calculations. An in-law to President Buhari, Alhaji Yakubu is a grassroots politician who served in past committees constituted by the ANPP and the CPC.
Those who had worked with him in the past said Alhaji Yakubu is a plus to Masari administration because he is a worthy person.
His 25 years’ vast experience in the private sector is expected to work for him in the discharge of his responsibilities.
Jigawa:Badaru’s main challenger is his deputy
The deputy governor of Jigawa state is Barrister Ibrahim Hassan Hadeijia. Hadeijia, who is a lawyer and a former banker, is a household name in Jigawa.
Apart from being a former deputy governor of the state, he also hails from a family that is well-known in the north. His late father, Mr Hassan Hadeijia, was one of the famous elite in the north in his time as he was a onetime Minister of Petroleum under Shehu Shagari administration.
He was born on November 13, 1965. He attended Sacred Heart Primary School, Kaduna where he obtained his Primary School Certificate between 1971 and 1977. Between 1977 and 1982, he was at Barewa College, Zaria where he obtained his WAEC/GCE certificate. From there, he proceeded to the School of Basic Studies, ABU, Zaria, where he obtained his IJMB A Levels results and gained admission to the Faculty of Law, Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria. Between 1987 and 1988, he attended the Nigerian Law School in Lagos.
He worked in the banking sector for 10 years. He was dragged into politics when he was appointed as Attorney- General and Commissioner for Justice by former Governor Saminu Turaki from 1999 to 2001.
He was the Secretary to the State Government (SSG) between 2002 and 2003. He emerged as a running mate to former Governor Turaki and served with him between 2003 and 2007.
In 2011, he was the defunct All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP) governorship candidate in Jigawa. He secured a third position at a time when his current boss, who flew the flag of the ACN, came second. The merger between the ANPP, the Congress for Progressives Change (CPC) and the ACN made it possible for him to initially emerge the consensus candidate of the APC. But the consensus arrangement collapsed less than two weeks after it was reached. He did not participate in the primary election that produced his current boss. The party caucus reached a consensus to pick him as deputy governor.
A council czar is Sokoto’s deputy governor
Alhaji Ahmed Aliyu is the deputy governor of Sokoto state. He was the immediate past Commissioner for Health under former Governor Aliyu Wamakko administration. During Wamakko’s first tenure, Alhaji Aliyu was Commissioner for Social Welfare and Culture.
The deputy governor has remained very close to his political mentor, Wamakko whom he addresses as “Daddy” because he shares the same name as that of the deputy governor’s father.
It is widely believed that his closeness to the former Governor was instrumental to his emergence as deputy governor.
He has been in politics since the days of the Sani Abacha transition programme. He participated actively in youth activities, making him very popular among them in Sokoto.
A Fellow of the Association of National Accountants of Nigeria (FCNA), Alhaji Aliyu started as Finance Clerk at Jega Local Government Education Authority in old Sokoto state from 1989 to 1992.
Between 1992 and 1995, he was appointed Internal Auditor, Sokoto state House of Assembly. He was also Officer in Charge of Salary/ Accountant at Wamako Local Government between 1995 and 1997.
From 1996 to 1998, he held the position of Deputy Director Finance at Sabon Birni Local Government Area. He maintained the same position at Silame Local Government Area from 1998 to 1999.
He was appointed Director Finance at Silame Local Government Area from 1999 to 2002 and Director Finance and Supply, Kebbi Local Government from 2002 to 2004.
Alhaji Aliyu was Chief Accountant, Local Government Service Commission between 2004 and 2007. He joined Wamakko’s cabinet from that position. He was Commissioner for two terms under Wamakko administration.
An alumnus of Usman Danfodiyo University, Sokoto, Alhaji Aliyu holds Masters in Business Administration (MBA) and Masters in International Affairs and Strategic Studies.
Born on January 1, 1970, Alhaji Aliyu is widely travelled. He is married with children.
Professor Hafiz Abubakar, who is the deputy governor of Kano state, was born on November 25, 1954 in Sabon-Sara quarters, Gwale Local Government Area. He attended Dandago Primary School, Gwale, between 1960 and 1967, before proceeding to Government Secondary School, Gwale. He then attended Kaduna Polytechnic, Kaduna, where he obtained his Higher National Diploma (HND) certificate in 1980. Having graduated as the best final student from Kaduna Polytechnic, Professor Abubakar got an automatic scholarship from the Kano state government to further his studies in any University in the world. Consequently, in 1983, Professor Abubakar joined Queen Elizabeth College (University of London) England for a one year Post-Graduate Diploma programme in Clinical Nutrition.
Following his outstanding performance at Queen Elizabeth College (University of London), his Head of Department, a world re-knowned Nutritionist, Professor D.J Naismith, recommended that University of Reading, England admitted him for M.Sc in Food Science (General option). In 1989, he went back to the same University for his PhD, a programme which he completed in 1992. The Nutritionist worked as a Clerical Officer in the Military Governor’s office (Information Department) between 1973 and 1975 before he joined the Department of Biochemistry, Bayero University Kano as a Senior Lecturer. In realization of his potentials in Food Science and Nutrition, Prof. Abubakar was appointed National Coordinator to the FAO Assisted Food Security and Nutrition Intervention Project, a position he held for one year (19961997). He was also the pioneer Technical Coordinator to the Special Programme on Food Security (Pilot phase) for FAO/UN from 1998-1999.
As colleagues at Kaduna Polytechnic, the immediate past governor of Kano state, Dr. Rabi’u Musa Kwankwaso, during his first tenure, appointed him as Special Adviser on Politics in the year 2000. One year after, he was elevated to the status of Commissioner (Finance), a position he held till 2003. He also served as Special Adviser to Dr. Kwankwaso from 2003-2006 when he (Kwankwaso) was Minister of Defence.
Despite his engagements between 2000 and 2006, Prof. Abubakar participated actively in both Post-Graduate teaching and supervision. In 2009, he was appointed Head of Department of Biochemistry, Bayero University, Kano, and a member of the Board of Trustee of the Tertiary Education Fund (TETFUND), where he represented the North-West zone.
Professor Abubakar was a member of various University committees before he became deputy governor.
Professor Abubakar was picked as a running mate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) gubernatorial candidate in Kano state, Dr. Abdullahi Umar Ganduje during the last general elections by the Kano state APC elders committee.
A loyalist of the immediate past governor of the state, Dr. Kwankwaso, Professor Abubakar is presently wearing two caps under the Ganduje-led administration; a deputy governor and commissioner for education. He is married with children.
Kaduna: Bantex is a grassroots politician
The deputy governor of Kaduna state, Architect Barnabas Yusuf Bala popularly known as Bantex has spent most of his political life in the opposition.
His preference for grassroots politics paid off in the run-off to the 2015 elections as he was picked as running mate to the APC governorship candidate, Malam Nasir El-rufai.
Though he has been playing politics for sometimes, his major breakthrough came in 1997 when he was elected chairman of Kaura local government area of Kaduna State.
He later won the House of Representatives election in 2007 when he represented Kaura Federal Constituency. He was the only member from the defunct Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) in the entire North-West, where he was said to have utilized the opportunity to become a national figure.
He was born in 1956 to the family of Pastor Bala Shekari and Mallama Kako Bala Shekari in ECWA Theological College, Kagoro.
His father was the first Pastor to be ordained by Sudan Interior Mission (SIM) - now known as ECWA Church. It is known as the Moroa chiefdom in Kaduna State.
Bantex lost his father at the age of eight. So, he was under the care of a foster mother; his mother’s younger sister, known as Mrs. Rahap Ransom.
He attended Federal Government College (FGC) Warri after the completion of his primary education. He later gained admission to the University of Lagos and later Ahmadu Bello University (ABU), Zaria. Earlier, he visited Nairobi, Kenya, to under study the Country’s Jomo Kenyatta International Conference Centre in order to enable him produce his project on the Kaduna International Conference Centre.
Shortly after graduating at ABU Zaria, the University offered him appointment as graduate assistant in 1987. Instead of accepting the offer at ABU, Zaria, the young Architect jettisoned it for another offer at the University of Jos, where he lectured for six years.
In 1986, he established the Bantex Consortium, which earned him the alias, “Bantex”.