Abdulfatah Ahmed

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Abdulfatah Ahmed
Governor of Kwara State
In office
29 May 2011 – 29 May 2019
Preceded byAbubakar Bukola Saraki[1]
Succeeded byAbdulRahman AbdulRasaq
Personal details
Born (1963-12-29) 29 December 1963 (age 58)
Share, Kwara State, Nigeria
Political partyPeople's Democratic Party (PDP)
Website"Dr Abdulfatah Ahmed"

Abdulfatah Ahmed (born 29 December 1963) is a Nigerian banker and politician. He is the former Governor of Kwara State.[2]

Background[]

Ahmed was born on 29 December 1963 in Share, Ifelodun Local Government Area of Kwara State. He attended Government College Funtua, Katsina State (1973–1978) and the school of Basic Studies of Kwara State College of Technology (now Kwara State Polytechnic), Ilorin (1978–1980). He went on to the University of Ilorin where he earned a BSc in Chemistry (1986) and a Master of Business Administration (MBA, 1992).[3]

Ahmed was a lecturer in Organic Chemistry and later Acting Head of Department at Federal College of Arts and Science, Sokoto, in Sokoto State (1986–1990).[4] He became an Assistant Manager at District Savings and Loans, Lagos (1991–1993). In 1993, he started work with Guaranty Trust Bank in the Credit and Marketing Unit. In 1998, he moved to Societe Generale Bank Nigeria as a Senior Manager/Group Head, Consumer Banking. Later, he became Public Sector Group for the North West region.[3]

Political career[]

Ahmed was appointed Commissioner for Finance and Economic Development at the start of Abubakar Bukola Saraki's Kwara State Administration (2003–2009).[5] He then became Commissioner of the newly created Ministry of Planning and Economic Development. During this period, Ahmed was also Treasurer of the forum of Commissioners of Finance in Nigeria for six years, and chairman, Budget Formulation Committee and Economic Team of Kwara State. He was appointed a member of board of directors of the International Aviation College, Ilorin, Chairman of the Millennium Development Goals implementation committee and Chairman of Shonga Farms Holdings Ltd.[3]

In the PDP primaries, Ahmed won 695 votes, defeating Chief Bashir Omoloja Bolarinwa (39 votes) and Alhaji Yekinni Alabi (9 votes).[6] In the 26 April 2011 elections, Ahmed won 254,969 votes. The runner-up, Dele Belgore of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) scored 152,580 votes.[7]

Ahmed announced his defection from the All Progressives Congress shortly after his predecessor and Senate President Bukola Saraki announced his resignation from the (APC) on July 31st 2018.[8]

EFCC investigations and arrests[]

Fraud[]

In December 2020, Ahmed was arrested by Nigerian authorities in connection with his alleged involvement in a long-running financial fraud.[9] The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission had been probing his wife's involvement as well.[10] The fraud may have reached two billion naira.[10]

Diversion of Kwara public funds[]

On 17 May 2021, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission detained Ahmed for a second time after seven hours of interrogation over around ₦9 billion that were allegedly diverted from the Kwara State government. The money was alleged to have been diverted over the course of Ahmed’s time as Governor and his time as Finance Commissioner in the Governor Bukola Saraki administration.[11]

Illegal sale and mismanagement of Kwara public assets[]

In May 2021, the Judicial Commission of Inquiry on the sales of Kwara State Government Assets between May 1999 and May 2019, a commission set up by Kwara State Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq, accused Ahmed of selling state assets at suspiciously low prices to cronies and recommended Ahmed along with his predecessor as Governor Bukola Saraki for prosecution. Saraki, along with Ahmed and others, were said to have illegally sold government properties outside the state and grossly mismanaged state assets.[12]

See also[]

References[]

  1. ^ "Election Centre".
  2. ^ Opejobi, Seun (29 May 2019). "Kwara: Gov. Abdulrazaq makes promises, drives self to Govt House after swearing in". Daily Post Nigeria. Retrieved 13 March 2020.
  3. ^ a b c "My Profile". Abdulfatah Ahmed. Archived from the original on 12 March 2011. Retrieved 29 April 2011.
  4. ^ ene. "Kwara State Governor". www.nggovernorsforum.org. Retrieved 21 August 2018.
  5. ^ "#Election2019: Ahmed Makarfi's Profile". Retrieved 21 August 2018.
  6. ^ Mas'ud Adebimpe dvfdeerereff (10 January 2011). "Alhaji Abdulfatah Ahmed emerges as PDP flag bearer in the April 2011 guber election in Kwara State". Kwara State Government. Archived from the original on 15 March 2012. Retrieved 29 April 2011.
  7. ^ Ifedayo Adebayo (28 April 2011). "People's Democratic Party triumphs in Kwara". Next. Archived from the original on 2 May 2011. Retrieved 29 April 2011.
  8. ^ "Breaking: Kwara state Governor, Abdulfatah Ahmed dumps APC - Vanguard News". Vanguard News. 31 July 2018. Retrieved 31 July 2018.
  9. ^ Godspower, Samuel. "Kwara former governor Abdulfatah Ahmed arrested over multiple fraud allegations". Retrieved 3 January 2021.
  10. ^ a b "EFCC traces cash to Kwara ex-governor's wife's account". Latest Nigeria News, Nigerian Newspapers, Politics. 13 August 2019. Retrieved 3 January 2021.
  11. ^ "N9 billion Fraud: EFCC Arrests Ex-Kwara Governor, Abdulfatah Ahmed". Sahara Reporters. 17 May 2021. Retrieved 17 May 2021.
  12. ^ Olufemi, Alfred (28 May 2021). "Prosecute Saraki, others indicted in assets probe, panel tells Kwara govt". Premium Times. Retrieved 28 June 2021.
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