Abbas Aminu Iya (born June 1973) is a

Nigerian Nigerians or the Nigerian people are citizens of Nigeria or people with ancestry from Nigeria. The name Nigeria was taken from the Niger River running through the country. This name was allegedly coined in the late 19th century by British jour ...

politician who is the Senator for Adamawa Central. He was 2 terms Member of Adamawa State House of Assembly and served as Speaker of the Assembly between 2019 and 2023.

Background

Iya was born in the city of Yola in 1973. He attended the Central Primary school in Uba,

Hong Hong may refer to: Places *Høng, a town in Denmark *Hong Kong, a city and a special administrative region in China *Hong, Nigeria *Hong River in China and Vietnam *Lake Hong in China Surnames *Hong (Chinese name) *Hong (Korean name) Organiz ...

Adamawa state Adamawa state () is a state in the North-East geopolitical zone of Nigeria, bordered by Borno to the northwest, Gombe to the west, and Taraba to the southwest, while its eastern border forms part of the national border with Cameroon. It ta ...

. In 2000, he received his BSc in accounting from

Bayero University Kano The Bayero University Kano (BUK) is a university situated in Kano, Kano State, Nigeria. It was founded in 1975, when it was renamed from Bayero University College and upgraded from University College to University. It is the first university in ...

(BUK). He later obtained a master's degree in

Treasury Management Treasury management (or treasury operations) includes management of an enterprise's holdings, with the ultimate goal of managing the firm's liquidity and mitigating its operational, financial and reputational risk. Treasury Management includes a fi ...

from BUK in 2008.

Professional career

For his

National Youth Service Corps The National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) is a program set up by the Nigerian government during the military regime to involve Nigerian graduates in nation-building and the development of the country. There is no military conscription in Nigeria ...

(NYSC) service, he worked at the Nigeria National Liquified Natural GAS between 2001 and 2002. After his service, he joined Sigma Securities in 2002 and later joining the

Economic and Financial Crimes Commission The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) is a Nigerian law enforcement agency that investigates financial crimes such as advance fee fraud (419 fraud) and money laundering. The EFCC was established in 2003, partially in response to pre ...

as a forensic expert and pioneer accountant. He later worked for Africa Petroleum Nigeria and KPMG, between 2008 and 2011. A Chartered Accountant and Certified Fraud Examiner.

Political career

In 2011, Iya ran for and secured the position of the

Adamawa State House of Assembly The Adamawa State House of Assembly is the legislative arm of the government of Adamawa State of Nigeria. It is a unicameral legislature with 25 members elected from the 21 local government areas (State Constituencies). Local government ar ...

representative for the Uba/Gaya constituency. From 2011 to 2015, he represented his constituents while assuming multiple roles within the House. These roles included serving as the

Chief Whip The Chief Whip is a political leader whose task is to enforce the whipping system, which aims to ensure that legislators who are members of a political party attend and vote on legislation as the party leadership prescribes. United Kingdom ...

, Deputy Minority Leader, Minority Leader, Deputy Chief Whip, as well as chairing and being a member of several standing committees. Iya was unable to retain his seat in the House after losing the State House of Assembly election in 2015 but still remaining in PDP. However, he ran again in 2019 and managed to emerge victorious, securing his representation of the Uba/Gaya constituency. He was appointed as the Speaker of the House, serving in that role until 2023. In 2023, Iya contested the position of Senator for Adamawa Central, facing off against the former incumbent,

Abdul-Aziz Nyako Abdul-Aziz Murtala Nyako (born 19 December 1970) is a senator of the Federal Republic of Nigeria from Adamawa State. He represents Adamawa central in the current 8th National Assembly. Senator Nyako is the chairman of the Special Duties Commi ...

, who had held the position from 2015 to 2019. He emerged victorious in the election and now represents Adamawa Central in the

Senate of Nigeria The Senate is the upper chamber of Nigeria's bicameral legislature, the National Assembly of Nigeria. The National Assembly (popularly referred to as NASS) is the nation's highest legislature, whose power is to make laws, is summarized in chapt ...

. Iya was appointed chairman of the Senate Committee on Science and Tech of the 10th Senate. Iya sponsored a motion titled "Needs to prevent loss of lives caused by floods and undredged

River Benue The Benue River (french: la Bénoué), previously known as the Chadda River or Tchadda, is the major tributary of the Niger River. The river is approximately long and is almost entirely navigable during the summer months. The size of its bas ...

In Adamawa State” on the need to provide solutions to the floods that have ravaged about seven local government areas of Adamawa state:

Fufore Fufore is a town and Local Government Area of Adamawa State, Nigeria. Languages The languages spoken in Fufore LGA are, *Fulani * Gengle * Koma * Kugama *Kumba Kumba is a metropolitan city in the Meme department, Southwest Region, West ...

Yola North Yola North is a Local Government Area A local government area (LGA) is an administrative division of a country that a local government is responsible for. The size of an LGA varies by country but it is generally a subdivision of a State (administ ...

Yola South Yola South is a Local Government Area of Adamawa State Adamawa state () is a state in the North-East geopolitical zone of Nigeria, bordered by Borno to the northwest, Gombe to the west, and Taraba to the southwest, while its eastern bord ...

Girei Girei is a town and local government area of Adamawa State, Nigeria. It lies on the Benue River. The dominant tribe in the area are the Fulɓe or Fulani; however, a substantial number of Bwatiye also dwell in villages such as Greng, Ntabo, an ...

in Adamawa Central and Numan,

Lamurde Lamurde is a town and Local Government Area of Adamawa State, Nigeria inhabited predominantly by the Bwatiye (Bachama) people. History The Lamurde Local Government was established on December 14, 1996, from the local government of Numan. Numer ...

and

Demsa Demsa is a Local Government Area of Adamawa State, Nigeria with headquarters located in Demsa. Demsa lies on the Benue River. History Demsa Local Government Area is one of the twenty one LGAs in Adamawa State and has the postal code of 642. ...

in Adamawa South. According to Iya:

On Wednesday 1 November 2023, 32 people were on board trying to cross the river at Garin Alaji near Chikito village where the boat capsized but only 7 bodies were discovered and five rescued alive, the remaining are unaccounted for up till now in addition to the earlier reported case where 53 people lost their lives in the same river.

Senator Iya attributed these floods to the periodic release of water from the Lagdo Dam by Cameroonian authorities, causing the Benue River to overflow its banks. To address the issue, he proposed the construction of the Dasin Hausa Dam as a preventive measure to mitigate future flooding.

References

{{Nigerian Senators of the 10th National Assembly Nigerian Fula people Adamawa State politicians Living people 1973 births Bayero University Kano alumni Peoples Democratic Party members of the Senate (Nigeria) Members of the Adamawa State House of Assembly Speakers of the Adamawa State House of Assembly 21st-century Nigerian politicians