Malam Yahaya Abdulkarim (born 21 August 1944) 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 was 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 ...

, between January 1992 and November 1993, during General

Ibrahim Babangida Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida (born 17 August 1941) is a Nigerian statesman and military dictator who ruled as military president of Nigeria from 1985 when he orchestrated a coup d'état against his military and political arch-rival Muhammadu ...

's attempted transition to democracy. After the return to democracy in 1999, he became a power in the

Zamfara State Zamfara (; ; Adlam script, Adlam: ) is a States of Nigeria, state in northwestern Nigeria. The capital of Zamfara state is Gusau and its current List of Governors of Zamfara State, governor is Dauda Lawal. Until 1996, the area was part of Soko ...

branch of the People's Democratic Party (PDP), and served for a while in the cabinet of president

Olusegun Obasanjo Chief Olusegun Matthew Okikiola Ogunboye Aremu Obasanjo (; ; born 5 March 1937) is a Nigerian former army general, politician and statesman who served as Nigeria's head of state from 1976 to 1979 and later as its president from 1999 to 200 ...

Early career

Yahaya Abdulkarim was born on 21 August 1944 in

Talata Mafara Talata Mafara is a Local Government Area in Zamfara State, Nigeria. Its headquarters is in the town of Talata Mafara, about 15 km from the Bakolori Dam on the Sokoto River. The town lies on the southern edge of the major irrigation project ...

. His father was a Native Authority officer. He joined the civil service of the

North-Western State North-Western State is a former administrative division of Nigeria. It was created on 27 May 1967 from parts of the Northern Region and existed until 3 February 1976, when it was divided into two states – Niger and Sokoto. The city of Sokoto ...

as a teacher, and held various positions before retiring in 1989 as Director-General in the Ministry of Budget and Economic Planning of

Governor of Sokoto State

Abdulkarim was elected governor of

, Nigeria in January 1992, representing the

National Republican Convention The National Republican Convention was a Nigerian political party established by the government of General Ibrahim Babangida and ultimately disbanded by the military regime of General Sani Abacha in 1993. Alignment The party was organized to ca ...

(NRC). He was forced out of office in November 1993 by the military regime of General

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 ...

. During his period of office, he feuded with

Attahiru Bafarawa Alhaji Attahiru Dalhatu Bafarawa (born 4 November 1954) is a Nigerian politician who served as the executive List of Governors of Sokoto State, governor of Sokoto State from 29 May 1999 to 29 May 2007. Early career He was a one-time local gover ...

, the NRC party chairman in the state. The feud persisted, and when Bafarawa became Governor of Sokoto State in 1999, he followed a policy of neglecting all roads and buildings built by the Abdulkarim administration. In 1992, Abdulkarim signed the bill establishing the Talata Mafara Polytechnic, later renamed the Abdu Gusau Polytechnic.

Later career

In September 2002, Abdulkarim was appointed to a sub-committee of the

Niger Delta Development Commission The Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) is a federal government agency established by former Nigerian president Olusegun Obasanjo in the year 2000, with the sole mandate of developing the oil-rich Niger Delta region of Nigeria. In Septemb ...

to monitor a multi-billion naira developmental project that had been launched in the nine oil-producing states. Abdulkarim was appointed Minister of State for Works in president Olusegun Obasanjo's cabinet in July 2005. He replaced Alhaji Saleh Shehu in this position. In November 2006, he unfolded plans for an extensive and accelerated roads recovery programme to target the Christmas season. When the Minister of Works, Adeseye Ogunlewe, was dismissed in March 2006, he was promoted to Minister of Works. He was later subject to a Senate inquiry into his conduct while in this office. He was an unsuccessful candidate for governor of Zamfara State on the People's Democratic Party (PDP) platform in the April 2007 elections. By 2007, the Zamfara State PDP had split into two factions, one led by Abdulkarim and the other by former National Security Adviser, General Aliyu Gusau. In March 2008, Abdulkarim led a delegation from Zamfara to ask the PDP national chairman, Prince Vincent Ogbulafor, to prevent Gusau from interfering in the party's affairs. In October 2008, it was reported that he was being considered for a ministerial position in the cabinet of president

Umaru Yar'Adua Umaru Musa Yar'Adua (; 16 August 19515 May 2010) was a Nigerian politician who served as the president of Nigeria from 2007 until his death in May 2010. He won the Nigerian presidential election held on 21 April 2007, and was sworn in on 29 Ma ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Abdulkarim, Yahaya Living people 1944 births Governors of Sokoto State National Republican Convention politicians Peoples Democratic Party (Nigeria) politicians