By Aondover Tyowase
Consummate politician, subtle and strategic thinker,
Senator Abdul’aziz Abubakar Yari represents Zamfara West Senatorial District of Zamfara State under the platform of the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC in the 10th Senate of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
His display of political sagacity and great skill in raising the scale for leadership places him in the category of the Dark Horse in the Red Chamber, the Nigerian Senate.
A household name in the Nigerian political landscape, the Zamfara West Senator exudes courage, tenacity, determination to the extent that even his detractors find it difficult to dismiss those endowments.
Modestly, Senator Yari attended the Talata Mafara Township Primary School, then proceeded to Government Teacher’s College in Bakura from 1979 to 1984.
Between 1991 and 1994, he attended the Sokoto Polytechnic where he obtained a certificate and later a Diploma in Secretarial Studies in 2004.
He also attended the Kebbi Polytechnic for a Graduate Diploma in Public Administration in 2008. He attended leadership trainings both home and abroad too many too mention.
His leadership qualities began manifesting in the advent of constitutional democracy in 1999 when he served as the Secretary of the then All Nigeria People’s Party (ANPP) between 1999 and 2003.
He would later become Chairman of Zamfara State chapter of the ANPP in 2003.
That was not enough , his leadership qualities endeared him to many and was tapped to become the National Financial Secretary of the party up till 2007.
In the build up to the 2007 general elections , Senator Yari won the ticket of his party and was consequently elected to represent his people of Anka/Talata Federal Constituency in the House of Representatives.
He never looked back and on April 26, 2011, Abdul-aziz Yari Abubakar was elected Governor of Zamfara State on the platform of the All Nigeria Peoples Party(ANPP).
Again in the 2015 gubernatorial elections, he was re-elected as Governor on the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC).
On May 18, 2015, Honourable Yari’s colleagues in the Nigeria Governors’ Forum unanimously elected him as their Chairman of this all-influential forum.
This is aside the fact that he had held sway as Zamfara State Caretaker committee chairman in 2009 when the then Governor defected to the Peoples Democratic Party.
It is important to note that as Governor of Zamfara State for 8 years, Senator Yari prioritised welfare of his people, education for the less privileged, economic prosperity and capacity building to reduce over dependence on Government. While he made significant and deliberate efforts in the fight against bandits and other criminal forces, he ensured the independence of the legislature by establishing a mutually respected relationship with the state’s Assembly.
At the leadership of the NGF, although Senator Yari inherited a polarized Governor’s Forum from Honourable Rotimi Amaechi, he wasted no-time in realizing that he needed to assemble the right blocks to rebuild the forum.
With his thinking cap on the head, his first approach was to work for a synergy among the governors as the integral pillars of the Nigeria’s political pyramid.
He immediately reintegrated all irrespective of political party affiliations and closed the political party-gaps that had hitherto polarized the forum.
This was anchored on his firm believe that without unity of purpose, the whole essence of the forum would be defeated.
Suffice to say that Senator Yari as NGF chairman and Governor, he sagaciously looked beyond his state of Zamfara and deployed tact to ensure that more funds were pumped into the nation’s economy.
It was Yari who successfully secured the nod of President Muhammadu Buhari to gratuitously accent to the demand for the refund of the Paris and London Clubs loans deductions to states.
This moved an elated Ekiti state Governor, Ayodele Fayose at the time to declare that ‘you can remain Chairman for life’ amidst resounding applause by more than 29 governors who were in attendance at the International Conference Centre, Abuja.
Many State Governors mismanaged these refunds that were meant to stimulate the economy by offsetting backlog of arrears and embark on a few projects, Senator Yari had written his name on the sands of time.
As his term as governor of Zamfara State drew to a close, Yari ran for the Zamfara West Senate seat and won with a very wide margin on the platform of the ruling APC. But his election and other APC candidates in the 2019 general election in Zamfara State were nullified by the Supreme Court on the ground that they were not validly nominated through party primaries.
This development administered a temporary political setback for Senator Yari but he was not deterred in any way .
While he continued to sustain his political structure and indulge in philanthropy across the state and not limited to Zamfara West, the people never left him during the four years of the struggle.
Yari bounced back much bigger, this time much more connected and much promising in 2023 when he was elected into the 10th Senate and began mobilising his colleagues to clinch the exalted office of President of Senate.
He ran a colourful contest and campaigned against the run of play. President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, his Vice, Senator Kashim Shettima and the National Secretariat of the All Progressives Congress had endorsed Senator Godswill Akpabio and Senator Jubrin Barau as Senate President and Deputy Senate President respectively .
But as believer of the independence of the legislature, Senator Yari put up a good fight and proved to the world that he was the choice of his colleagues even though he lost the elections.
A Senator from the North West who pleaded his name should not be mentioned for fear of a possible victimization told our correspondent that, “ Senator Yari was truly the choice of most of the senators because we saw him as the right person to lead this Senate, but the President of Nigeria and the party felt differently for funny reasons.
“A lot of the senators complained about the arrogance of this Senate President and you can see from his actions. He talks down on colleagues and we saw this coming . Since he became Senate President, what exactly have we achieved as a Senate? He is more interested in endorsing whatever that comes from the Presidency. And when you raise any counter opinion, you are suspended, warned or threatened.”
Another senator from North Central said,” I supported Senator Yari and anytime he is contesting I will still support him because I know him. He has age on his side and we are watching events as they unfold. Presently, we don’t have the kind of leadership of the Senate that we envisaged. This is not because Yari will be antagonistic to the Executive, but he will keep the integrity of the parliament. Senators will be able to speak their minds and raise the necessary questions.
“Look at the nonsense regarding the appropriations Act . How many times are we going to amend one budget? That is corruption in disguise because how do you expect auditors to track what is happening? Even as Senators with oversight functions, it is not all senators who can understand what is happening.
Nobody is saying Yari is perfect but comparatively, he is better and it is most unfortunate.”
Also speaking with a senator from the South East, he said, “look as much as I don’t want to talk about what is happening, I want to say it is most shameful that the APC is providing this sort of leadership at all levels. But going inro specifics, let me say Senator Yari would have been the best choice because he was actually the one we wanted. Experience has shown us that the Presidency only endorsed candidates that can do their bidding and that took away our power of checks and balances. If you look at the disposition of this Senate leadership, and the way they respond to matters from the executive, you will know that we are far from it .
“We are watching and as you can see, something is about happening and when it happens we will do the needful.”
