Profile
Ibraham Gaidam is the Senator representing the Yobe East Senatorial District, on the platform of All Progressives Congress. He served as the immediate past governor of Yobe State, between 2009 and 2019. He is a public servant, astute administrator, classroom teacher and an accountant with a membership with the Certified Public Accountants of Nigeria (CPA)
Personal Life
He was born on 15th September 1956 in Bukarti town, Yunusari Local Government Area, in the old Borno, now Yobe State.
Education
| Name Of School | Degree | Year |
| Yunusari Primary School | Primary Education | 1963-1969 |
| Borno Teachers College (BTC) Maiduguri | Teachers’ Grade Two Certificate | 1974-1979 |
| Ahmadu Bello University (ABU) Zaria | Diploma in Accountancy | 1981- 1983 |
| Ahmadu Bello University (ABU), Zaria | Bachelor of Science in Accountancy Degree | 1990 |
Work History
| Place | Position | Date |
| Yobe State Ministry of Home Affairs, Information and Culture | Permanent Secretary | |
| Yobe State Ministry of Commerce and Industries | Permanent Secretary | |
| Yobe State Ministry of Land and Survey | Permanent Secretary | |
| Yobe State Finance Ministry | Director | |
| Yobe Information and Culture Ministry | Acting Director of Finance and Supplies | |
| Directorate of Foods, Roads and Rural Infrastructure | Assistant Director of Finance |
Yunusari Local Government Area of Yobe State.
September 15th 1956
Yobe State.
All Nigeria Peoples Party
Islam
Governor
Senator
ibrahim.gaidam@nass.gov.ng
Political History
Gaidam left the civil service in 1995 when he was appointed the Commissioner for Youths and Sports and then Commissioner of Commerce Industries, by the then Military Administrator of Yobe State, Compol Dabo Aliyu. He held this position until 1997 when he returned to civil service.
Between 1997 and 2007, Gaidam held several notable roles in the civil service.
In May 2007, he was sworn in as the elected Deputy Governor of Yobe State, on the platform of All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP), under the leadership of Governor Mamman Bello Ali. On January 27th, 2009, following the death of Governor Ali, Gaidam was sworn in as the Executive Governor of Yobe State.
He was appointed the Chairman of the ANPP tactical committee for the 2011 elections. Gaidam was also re-elected as the Governor of Yobe State on 26th April 2011. Following the 2013 merger of some political parties, including ANPP, to form the All Progressives Congress, Gaidam became an official member of the All Progressives Congress.
He was re-elected once again, on 11th April 2015, as the Governor of Yobe State, on the platform of APC. At the end of his tenure, on 23rd March 2019, Gaidam was elected into the 9th National Assembly as the Senator representing Yobe East Senatorial District. He serves as the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Education (Basic and Secondary). He will be contesting to retain his current position as the senator of the Yobe East senatorial district in the upcoming 2023 election.
Leadership Style/Philosophy
Governor Gaidam is focused on ensuring that his administration delivers the dividends of democracy right to the doorsteps of the people and that Yobe is transformed to a more economically prosperous State.
His instruction to the state finance ministry to pay over four thousand civil servants whose names were omitted in the biometric exercise as well as the payment of teachers’ salaries according to the percentages recommended by federal government, amongst many other interventions, are widely saluted in Yobe State and beyond as magnanimous and legendary.
Awards & Honours
- 2018 Distinguished Education Champion Award by Blueprint Newspapers
- 2018 Nigeria’s Governor of the Year in Education Award by the African Education Monitor Magazine
- 2017 Award of Excellence from The Nigeria Medical Association (NMA), Yobe State Chapter
- 2017 Nigeria Union of Pensioners (NUP) Award of Excellence in recognition of prompt payment of gratuities and pensions to pensioners.
Project
- ₦200 million contributions by the Yobe State Government for the construction of a new military barracks in the Yobe state capital, Damaturu
- Construction of Yobe’s first University Teaching Hospital, with state-of-the-art equipment and harvest of specialised personnel
- Rehabilitation and expansion of five secondary schools across the state
- Rebuilt over 24 primary schools and over 300 classroom blocks, and fenced them to improve security from Boko Haram
- Reconstruction of Katarko bridge along the Damaturu-Gujba-Gulani axis
- Installation of solar-powered street lights across the state’s capital
- Dualisation and asphalt nation of most major roads across the state
- Sponsorship of over 400 medical students in learning institutions within and outside Nigeria
Criticism/Controversy
- A top opposition politician in Yobe State, who remains anonymous, criticised Gaidam of moving his family to a safe place even as Boko Haram continues to make the lives of other residents in the area miserable
- Gaidam sponsored the extremely controversial bill, “A Bill for an Act to establish a national agency for the education, rehabilitation, de-radicalisation and integration of repentant insurgents in Nigeria”. The bill aims at establishing an agency that would fully reintegrate Boko Haram insurgents into the Nigerian society by granting them amnesty. Gaidam received severe backlash on his sponsorship of this bill, by both his colleagues and the masses.