Mu’azu Babangida Aliyu is a senior civil servant who was elected governor of
Niger State
Niger State is a state in the North Central (Nigeria), North Central region of Nigeria, bordered to the east by Kaduna State and the Federal Capital Territory (Nigeria), Federal Capital Territory, to the north by Kebbi State and Zamfara State, ...
,
Nigeria
Nigeria, officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf of Guinea in the Atlantic Ocean to the south. It covers an area of . With Demographics of Nigeria, ...
in April 2007.
He was reelected on 26 April 2011.
[
In the March 2015 presidential and senate elections, Gov Aliyu failed in his senate race against David Umaru of the ]All Progressives 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, t ...
, who obtained 149,443 as against 46,459 votes for the governor. On April 11, 2015, he failed to win in his own polling unit in governorship and state assembly elections in polling unit 006 where Aliyu's PDP only obtained 100 votes against 361 votes for Kofar Danjuma Mainadi of the APC.
Background
Mu’azu Babangida Aliyu was born in Minna
Minna is a city in the Middle Belt of Nigeria. It is the capital city of Niger State, one of Nigeria's 36 federal states. Its original two major ethnic groups are the Gbagyi and the Nupe peoples.
History
Archaeological evidence suggests ...
in Niger State on November 12, 1955. He attended the College of Arts & Arabic Studies in Sokoto
Sokoto (Hausa language, Hausa: ; Fulfulde, Fula: , ''Leydi Sokoto'') is one of the 36 states of Nigeria, located in the extreme northwest of the country. It is bounded by Niger, Republic of the Niger to the north and west for 363 km (226 m ...
, graduating in 1974. In 1977, he obtained the Nigeria Certificate in Education from the College of Education, Sokoto. In 1978 he became a teacher at Government Teachers’ College, Minna
Minna is a city in the Middle Belt of Nigeria. It is the capital city of Niger State, one of Nigeria's 36 federal states. Its original two major ethnic groups are the Gbagyi and the Nupe peoples.
History
Archaeological evidence suggests ...
. Later he went to Bayero University, Kano where he obtained a BA in Education in 1983. After Mandatory one year Youth Service, He went on to the University of Pittsburgh
The University of Pittsburgh (Pitt) is a Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. The university is composed of seventeen undergraduate and graduate schools and colle ...
, Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...
, United States
The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...
in 1985, gaining a PhD in Public Policy and Strategic Studies in 1989.[
In 1983 he was elected to the National House of Representatives for Chanchaga Federal Constituency of Niger State towards the end of the short-lived ]Second Nigerian Republic
The Second Nigerian Republic was a brief formation of the Nigerian state which succeeded the military governments formed after the overthrow of the first republic.
Background
Contested elections and political turbulence in the Western region ...
.[
He was given the title of ''Sodangin Nupe'' by HRH Alh. Yahaya Abubakar (GCON, the Etsu Nupe and chairman, Niger State council of traditional rulers).
]
Public service career
He joined the Federal Public Service as Acting Chief Political Affairs Officer in May, 1990. He subsequently held posts in the Office of the Secretary to the Government of Federation and the National Council on Inter-Governmental Relations. From 1996 until April 1999 he was Director (Maritime Services) in the Ministry of Transportation. In 1999 he was appointed Federal Permanent Secretary and Chief Operating/Accounting Officer, and later served in a number of senior positions in different Federal civil service departments until 2007, when he reentered politics.[
]
Governor of Niger State
Mu'azu Babangida Aliyu was elected executive governor of Niger State in April 2007, running under the platform of People's Democratic Party (PDP) .
His election was disputed by late Jibrin Bala Guna Alhassan, a rival candidate for the PDP nomination, but the suit was rejected by the Federal High Court 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 ...
in December 2007.
Soon after being sworn in as executive governor, Aliyu established up a Debt Verification Committee to look into a flood of claims for unpaid bills for the contracts awarded by his predecessor Abdulkadri Kure. The committee reported widespread misappropriations of the state's resources."[
In January 2008, he said to a delegation from the Association of Nigerian Authors, Niger State, "I think Niger State will be the most published state in 2008. We want to publish you; we shall publish you..." The state was to publish at least twenty titles in 2008 alone.
At a December 2008 symposium on poverty eradication in Northern states, Babangida Aliyu said the traditional rulers, particularly in the Northern region, were "corrupt, support ]corruption
Corruption is a form of dishonesty or a criminal offense that is undertaken by a person or an organization that is entrusted in a position of authority to acquire illicit benefits or abuse power for one's gain. Corruption may involve activities ...
and have lost the respect and moral authority to correct their subjects."
Speaking in October 2009 at a convention of the Association of Nigerian Authors, Aliyu said that over 90 percent of Nigerian politicians have criminal intentions, spending huge amounts to gain office for their own benefit rather than to serve the public.
Babangida Aliyu was reelected on 26 April 2011.[
At a meeting of the Northern Governor's Forum 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 ...
, Aliyu as chairman "welcomed the US government's offer of military assistance" to locate the schoolgirls missing in the Chibok schoolgirl kidnapping
On the night of 14–15 April 2014, 276 mostly Christian female students and also Muslim students aged from 16 to 18 were kidnapped by the Islamist militant group Boko Haram from the Government Girls Secondary School in the town of Chibok i ...
.
See also
* List of governors of Niger State
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Aliyu, Muazu Babangida
1955 births
Living people
Governors of Niger State
People from Minna
Nigerian Muslims
Peoples Democratic Party state governors of Nigeria
Bayero University Kano alumni
University of Pittsburgh alumni