Introduction

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.

D.O.B – January 28th, 1968

Place of birth – Talata Mafara Local Government Area, Zamfara

Religion – Muslim

Education

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

Marriage – Spouses

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.

Politics

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.

Global achievements and Career

2022 Media Golden Award of Excellence in Recognition of Humanitarian Services, conferred by the Nigeria Union of Journalists (Zamfara State Chapter)

Projects

• 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 

Corruption Charge

Projects Verification Committee reports

Yari’s successor, Bello Matawalle, created the Zamfara State Project Verification Committee led by Ahmad Zabarma to probe projects under Yari’s governorship. In February 2020, at the Committee interim report press conference, Zabarma announced that the Yari administration had spent a suspiciously inflated amount on incomplete or yet-to-be-started projects.

Zabarma claimed ₦3 billion was spent on the ongoing Zamfara State University project and ₦70 billion was spent on the House of Assembly renovation despite the University being only 30% completed and the House of Assembly renovation having not started at all.

Zabarma also stated that ₦35 million was not refunded to Hajj pilgrims who could not be airlifted in 2012, over 1,000 vehicles belonging to the State Government (65% of its total vehicles) were missing after Yari left office, and ₦8.4 billion of state money was spent by Yari on exotic cars for associates and family along with several other cases of alleged corrupt practices using feeding programs, schools, water supply, and other projects. Yari claimed political persecution by his successor, Matawalle, against himself and the Zamfara APC.

The Project Verification Committee released its final report in late September which Matawalle claimed showed that Yari’s administration had stole over ₦107 billion from the state. In early October, Matawalle set up a Commission of Inquiry to further probe the Yari administration. 

Federal Project Refund scandal

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 Rabiu Garba claimed Yari and an associate diverted ₦37 billion in refunds on federal projects away from state government coffers. Yari’s Finance Commissioner Muktar Idris denied the accusation and claimed that the money was used on building roads.

EFAB Properties wire transfer

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 EFAB account is also linked to Fabian Nwaora, a public works contractor and real estate developer. 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.

EFCC investigations and arrests

In February and April 2021, Yari was detained and interrogated by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission in connection with around ₦300 billion he attempted to move from a corporate bank account. In the invitation letter sent to Yari to summon him for the April interrogation, the EFCC Director of Operations, Abdulkarim Chukkol, stated “conspiracy, diversion of public funds and money laundering” as the grounds for the interview. Sahara Reporters reported that the EFCC is also investigating Yari in connection with the alleged Paris Club refund corruption case involving the Central Bank of Nigeria, Attorney-General Abubakar Malami, Chief of Staff to the President Ibrahim Gambari, and former Representative Ned Nwoko.

ICPC investigations and seizures

The Independent Corrupt Practices Commission also accused Yari of corruption, specifically embezzling money from the Zamfara State treasury. In January 2021, Yari 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 with the hearing on final forfeiture scheduled for April 28