Bukar Abba Ibrahim (Walin Gujba) (October 1950 – 4 February 2024) was a Nigerian politician who served as the senator representing the Yobe East senatorial district from 2007 to 2019. He previously served twice as the governor of Yobe State from 1992 to 1993 and from 1999 to 2007.

Background

Bukar Abba Ibrahim was born in Ancient Goniri Town now Gujba Local Government. October 1950, but never knew the precise date. He began attending Central primary school Goniri in 1957. In 1965, he proceeded to Government College in

Maiduguri Maiduguri ( ) is the capital and the largest city of Borno State in north-eastern Nigeria, on the continent of Africa. The city sits along the seasonal Ngadda River which disappears into the ''Firki'' swamps in the areas around Lake Chad. Maid ...

. After taking the West African School Certificate Examination in 1970, he was admitted to

Ahmadu Bello University The Ahmadu Bello University (ABU) is a public research university located in Zaria, Nigeria, Zaria, Kaduna State, Nigeria. It was opened in 1962 as the University of Northern Nigeria. The university has four colleges, three schools, 18 faculties, ...

in 1972 where he obtained his

Bachelor of Science A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, B.S., B.Sc., SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree that is awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Scienc ...

degree in Quantity Surveying in 1975 Graduated With First Class. Thereafter, he undertook post-graduate professional training in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

from 1981 to 1982, which led to his qualification as an associate member of the Nigeria Institute of Quantity Surveyors. From 1985 to 1988, he worked as a

civil servant The civil service is a collective term for a sector of government composed mainly of career civil service personnel hired rather than elected, whose institutional tenure typically survives transitions of political leadership. A civil service offic ...

Borno State Borno is a States of Nigeria, state in the North East (Nigeria), North-East geopolitical zone of Nigeria. It is bordered by Yobe State, Yobe to the west, Gombe State, Gombe to the southwest, and Adamawa State, Adamawa to the south while its ea ...

eventually becoming Commissioner of Works. Ibrahim, a

Muslim Muslims () are people who adhere to Islam, a Monotheism, monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God ...

, was married to three wives: Hajiya (Dr) Maryam Ibrahim, Hajiya Aishatu Ibrahim (Late)and Khadija Ibrahim Bukar Ibrahim died in

Madinah Medina, officially al-Madinah al-Munawwarah (, ), also known as Taybah () and known in pre-Islamic times as Yathrib (), is the capital of Medina Province (Saudi Arabia), Medina Province in the Hejaz region of western Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, ...

, Saudi Arabia on 4 February 2024, at the age of 73.

Gubernatorial career

In December 1991, a few months after Yobe State was created, Ibrahim contested and won the

gubernatorial election A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of a state's official representative. Depending on the type of political region or polity, a ''governor'' ma ...

under the banner of the

Social Democratic Party The name Social Democratic Party or Social Democrats has been used by many political parties in various countries around the world. Such parties are most commonly aligned to social democracy as their political ideology. Active parties Form ...

(SDP). He held that position until November 1993, when the military took control of government. Nigeria transitioned from military to civilian rule beginning in late 1998. Gubernatorial elections were held in January 1999 and Ibrahim was again elected governor, this time under the banner of the All People's Party (APP), and took office on 29 May 1999. The APP was later renamed All Nigeria People's Party (ANPP) due to a factional split. He was re-elected in 2003 for a second four-year term and was one of only four incumbent ANPP governors to maintain their positions. During his first term, on 5 August 1993 Ibrahim split the state's four emirates into 13. This change was reversed by the military regime of

Sani Abacha Sani Abacha (; (20 September 1943 – 8 June 1998) was a Nigerian military dictator and statesman who ruled Nigeria with an iron fist as military head of state from 1993 following a palace coup d'état until his death in 1998. Abacha's seiz ...

. In his second term after the return to democracy, on 6 January 2000, he re-implemented the new emirates, adding Ngazargamu, Gujba, Nguru, Tikau, Pataskum, Yusufari, Gudi,

Fune Fune is a Local Government Areas of Nigeria, Local Government Area (LGA) in Yobe State, Nigeria. Its headquarters are in the town of Damagum in the southwest of the area on the A3 highway (Nigeria), A3 highway at . It has an area of 4,948 k ...

and Jajere. The Emir of Fika, Muhammadu Abali, protested at the break-up of his emirate and took the government to court, but eventually accepted the change.

Senatorial career

In 2007, he was elected to the Senate for the Yobe East constituency. He ran for re-election in the 9 April 2011 Senatorial contest for Yobe East on the ANPP platform, and won with 115,763 votes against former Senator Lawan Jalo Zarami of the People's Democratic Party (PDP), who gained 67,438 votes.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ibrahim, Bukar 1950 births 2024 deaths Governors of Yobe State Senators of the 8th National Assembly (Nigeria) Senators of the 7th National Assembly (Nigeria) Senators of the 6th National Assembly (Nigeria) All People's Party (Nigeria) politicians Social Democratic Party (Nigeria) politicians All Nigeria Peoples Party politicians Ahmadu Bello University alumni All Progressives Congress politicians Nigerian Muslims