AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq (born 5 February 1960) is a

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

politician, who has served as governor of

Kwara State Kwara () is a state in Western Nigeria, bordered to the east by Kogi State, to the north by Niger State, and to the south by Ekiti, Osun, and Oyo states, while its western border makes up part of the international border with Benin. Its ca ...

since 2019. He was previously the CEO of First Fuels Limited. He contested unsuccessfully the governorship of

in 2003, 2007 and 2011 respectively under the

Congress for Progressive Change The Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) was a political party founded in Nigeria in 2009. In February 2013, the party merged with the Action Congress of Nigeria, the All Nigeria Peoples Party, and a faction of the All Progressives Grand Alli ...

political party and was successively defeated by

Abubakar Bukola Saraki Abubakar Bukola Saraki (; born on 19 December 1962) is a Nigerian politician who served as the 13th president of the Nigerian Senate from 2015 to 2019. He was elected the President of Nigeria’s 8th Senate on 9 June 2015 under the All Progr ...

in 2003 and 2007, and by

Abdulfatah Ahmed Abdulfatah Ahmed (born 29 December 1963) is a Nigerian banker and politician. He is the former Governor of Kwara State. Background Ahmed was born on 29 December 1963 in Share, Ifelodun Local Government Area of Kwara State. He attended Gove ...

in 2011. However, in 2019, he contested again under the ruling political party in Nigeria, the

All Progressive Congress The All Progressives Congress (APC) is one of the two major contemporary political parties in Nigeria, along with the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). Founded on 6 February 2013 from a merger of Nigeria's three largest opposition parties, th ...

, and emerged as the governor of

, after he won the 2019 governorship election in the state. In 2021 he introduced KwaraLEARN in basic

education Education is the transmission of knowledge and skills and the development of character traits. Formal education occurs within a structured institutional framework, such as public schools, following a curriculum. Non-formal education als ...

to empower teachers. By May 2023, during the first anniversary of KwaraLEARN's launch, he declared the programme one of his best policies ever. On 1 August 2023, he and other six governors were in the entourage of president

Bola Ahmed Tinubu Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Adekunle Tinubu (born 29 March 1952) is a Nigerian politician serving as the 16th and current president of Nigeria since 2023. He previously served as the governor of Lagos State from 1999 to 2007, and senator for Lagos ...

Republic of Benin Benin, officially the Republic of Benin, is a country in West Africa. It was formerly known as Dahomey. It is bordered by Togo to the west, Nigeria to the east, Burkina Faso to the north-west, and Niger to the north-east. The majority of its po ...

for the country's 63rd independence celebration.

Early life

He was born in

Kano State Kano (Hausa language, Hausa: ) is one of the 36 States of Nigeria, states of Nigeria, located in the Northern Region, Nigeria, northern region of the country. According to the national census done in 2006, Kano State is the List of Nigerian st ...

. AbdulRahman is the son of Alhaji Abdulganiyu Abdulrasaq SAN, the first northern lawyer in Nigeria. He attended Capital School,

Kaduna Kaduna is the capital city of Kaduna State, and the former political capital of Northern Nigeria. It is located in north-western Nigeria, on the Kaduna River. It is a trade center and a major transportation hub as the gateway to northern state ...

between 1966 and 1968; Bishop Smith Memorial School

Ilorin Ilorin is the capital city of Kwara State located in the Western region of Nigeria. The city is a major hub for transportation and commerce in the region. . Retrieved 18 February 2007 Although Ilorin is classified under the North-Central g ...

between 1970 and 1971; and Government College Kaduna where he is said to have earned his

West African Senior School Certificate Examination The West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) is a type of standardized test in West Africa. Students who pass the exam receive a certificate confirming their graduation from secondary education. It is administered by the West A ...

in 1976 (WASSCE).

Career

Politics

He entered politics in 1999 when Nigeria returned to democracy. In 2011, he unsuccessfully contested the governorship election in Kwara State on the platform of Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) and again contested unsuccessfully the Kwara Central Senatorial District on the platform of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in both 2011 and 2015. He won the gubernatorial primary election of the

for

in October 2018. He was elected as governor of

at the 2019 governorship election held on 9 March 2019 and sworn in on 29 May 2019. On 19 March 2023, Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq was declared winner and reelected as the governor of

defeating his closest rival Yaman Abdullahi of the People Democratic Party PDP having scored majority votes in the election. On 24 May 2023, he emerged as the new Chairman of the Nigeria Governors' Forum at a closed-door meeting of the Governors which was held in

Abuja Abuja (; , ) is the capital city of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, strategically situated at the geographic midpoint of the country within the Federal Capital Territory (Nigeria), Federal Capital Territory (FCT). As the seat of the Federal G ...

succeeding the former governor of

Sokoto State Sokoto ( Hausa: ; Fula: , ''Leydi Sokoto'') is one of the 36 states of Nigeria, located in the extreme northwest of the country. It is bounded by Republic of the Niger to the north and west for 363 km (226 miles), and the states of Zamf ...

Aminu Tambuwal Aminu Waziri Tambuwal (born 10 January 1966) is a Nigerian lawyer and politician who has served as Senator for Sokoto South since 2023. He served as the governor of Sokoto State from 2015 to 2023. He is a member of the Peoples Democratic Part ...

, who became the Forum's chairman in 2022, with the governor of

Oyo State Oyo is a States of Nigeria, state in South West (Nigeria), southwestern Nigeria. Its capital is Ibadan, the List of Nigerian cities by population, third most populous city in the country and formerly the second most populous city in Africa. Oyo ...

Seyi Makinde Oluseyi Abiodun Makinde (; born 25 December 1967) is a Nigerian engineer, businessman, and politician who has served as the governor of Oyo State since 2019. He is an engineer and a subject matter expert on fluid and gas metering. He is the g ...

as the deputy chairman.

Personal life

He is married to Olufolake Molawa Davies Abdulrazaq (born 2 August 1967), and the couple have three sons.

References

17
"Tinubu, AbdulRazaq, five others travel to Benin Republic"
The City Gazette. 1 August 2023. Retrieved 1 August 2023. {{DEFAULTSORT:AbdulRazaq, AbdulRahman 1960 births Living people Nigerian Muslims People from Zaria All Progressives Congress state governors of Nigeria