Profile
Alhaji Abdulaziz Abubakar Yari is the immediate past Governor of Zamfara State, who served between 2011 and 2019 on the platform of All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP), and subsequently, All Progressives Congress. Yari has been politically active since 1999.
Personal Life
He was born on January 28th, 1968 in Talata Mafara Local Government Area, Zamfara. Yari is married to three wives – his first being Hajiya Asma’u Abdulaziz Yari, with whom he has four children. He also has as his third wife, the daughter of his predecessor, the third governor of Zamfara State, Alhaji Mamuda Aliyu Shinkafi.
Education
| Name Of School | Degree | Year |
| Talata Mafara Township Primary School | ||
| Government’s Teacher’s College, Bakura | 1979 – 1984 | |
| Sokoto State Polytechnic | Secretarial Studies | 1991 – 1994 |
| Sokoto State Polytechnic | Diploma, Secretarial Studies | 2004 |
| Kebbi State Polythecnic | Diploma in Public Administration | 2008 |
Work History
Political History
Yari’s political career began in 1999 when he served as the Secretary of the then All Nigeria People’s Party (ANPP) between 1999 and 2003. From there, he was elected the Chairman of ANPP Zamfara State in 2003 and later rose to the position of ANPP National Financial Secretary. He served in this capacity till 2007, when he was elected into the House of Representatives, to represent Anka/Talata Mafara Federal Constituency – which he did until 2011.
During his time as a House of Representatives member, in 2009, he also led the Caretaker Committee of the ANPP’s National Headquarters in Abuja. On April 26th, 2011, Yari was elected Governor of Zamfara State on the platform of ANPP. He was re-elected in 2015, under the banner of All Progressives Congress. On May 18th, 2015, Yari was unanimously elected as the Chairman of the Nigerian Governors’ Forum.
In 2019, Yari ran for the Senatorial seat representing Zamfara West and won with a very wide margin, on the platform of APC. However, his election and that of other APC candidates in the 2019 Zamfara elections were nullified by the Supreme Court, on the ground that they were not validly nominated through party primaries. Thus, the court ordered the Independent National Electoral Commission to declare the candidates who were the second runner-up in the elections. He will be contesting for the position of the senator representing Zamfara West senatorial district in the upcoming 2023 election on the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC).
Leadership Style/Philosophy
- He believes that leaders should not play to the gallery but should be sincere in their dealings with the people from whom he notes power is derived in the first place.
Awards & Honours
2022 Media Golden Award of Excellence in Recognition of Humanitarian Services, conferred by the Nigeria Union of Journalists (Zamfara State Chapter)
Project
- Provision of infrastructures like roads, electricity supply, potable water, hospitals and schools across Zamfara State
- His administration crashed the price of fertilisers available to farmers in Zamfara State
- Construction of 300 blocks of classrooms across the 14 local governments in Zamfara
- Construction of 7,000 fully equipped ICT Teachers Capacity training Center in Gusau, the state capital.
- Under his administration, girl child education received a major boost, with a record of the highest enrollment in Yari’s first two years of service
- Equipped the Government Girls College, Talata Marafa, with state of the art facilities
Criticism/Controversy
- Yari has several times, been accused of being involved in corrupt activities:
- After Yari left office, his successor, Bello Matawalle announced investigations into allegations of corruption during Yari’s administration. In September 2020, Matawalle’s Finance Commissioner claimed Yari and an associate diverted ₦37 billion in refunds on federal projects away from state government coffers. However, Yari’s Finance Commissioner, Muktar Idris, denied the accusation and claimed that the money was used on building roads
- In February 2021, the Peoples Gazette reported that on the day before Yari left the Governor’s office, he wired ₦350 million to EFAB Properties Limited, a real estate developer based in Abuja. The report quoted anonymous EFCC officials who claimed the commission was investigating numerous last-minute transfers by Yari, but had not seen the EFAB Properties transfer. The report also claimed that Yari was so notoriously corrupt that he was nicknamed the “loaded governor” by officials at the Nigerian Governors’ Forum which Yari chaired.
- The Independent Corrupt Practices Commission (ICPC) accused Yari of embezzling money from the Zamfara State treasury. In January 2021, he lost a court case that approved the seizure of $669,248 and over ₦24.3 million from him with the judge siding with the ICPC’s argument that Yari was unable to explain the sources of the funds and thus, the money was subject to forfeiture.
- In February 2022, the ICPC won another case against Yari; this time, for the interim forfeiture of 10 properties in Abuja, Kaduna, and Zamfara State along with Maryland in the United States. The judge stated that the interim order would last 60 days while the ICPC investigated further.
- In 2016, there were media reports of Yari’s alleged romantic relationship with President Buhair’s daughter, Zahra.
- In 2013, Yari was accused of engaging in too much travel outside the state and country.