Blueprint.ngcorrespondent writes that in what many see as a paradigm shift and a new phenomenon in Adamawa state politics, the former Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer, Nigeria Incentive Based Risks Sharing System for Agricultural Lending (NIRSAL), Alhaji Aliyu Abbati Abdulhameed, has opted to venture into politics, declaring to contest the Adamawa Central senatorial seat after over 33 years in private and public sectors
Cries of a senatorial district
Since the restoration of democracy in 1999, the democratic conscious constituents of Adamawa Central senatorial district comprising of six local governments of Yola North, Yola South, Gerei, Fufore, Song, Gombi and Hong had elected different personalities at different times to represent them in the Senate.
These included Senators Iya Abubakar, Jibril Aminu of blessed memory, Abubakar Gerei, Bello Tukur, Abdulaziz Nyako, Aishatu Dahiru Ahmed Binani to incumbent Amini Iya Abbass.
No doubt that the people of Adamawa Central, over the years, had always elected highly intellectually loaded personalities who had seen it all in life with excellent records of performance in public service into the Senate to represent them.
This is taking into consideration the fact that the legislative arm is too important to be left for every Dick and Harry and if you get it wrong with this arm, democracy will certainly lose its meaning, value and essence because it symbolises democracy itself. The senatorial district in the past had witnessed its best moments with quality representations that echoed across the country.
But unfortunately, in recent times, this quality representations have diminished and the senatorial district seemed to have lost its vibrancy, prestige and effectiveness which it was known in the past. Thus relegating the senatorial district to the background, especially by present crops of career politicians who see politics as an end rather than a means to an end.
Infact, most people believe that the senatorial district never had it so bad like in the current political dispensation which has left much to be desired.
It is not surprising, therefore, that this time around the constituents of the zone are shifting their attention from career politicians to technocrats hence their decision to drag former NIRSAl MD Aliyu Abbati Abdulhameed into the race for the senatorial seat of Adamawa Central under the platform of the APC in 2027.
Answering constituents’ clarion call
After extensive consultations, pressures and pleadings from the people of Adamawa Central, Alhaji Abbati has decided to throw his hat in the ring.
Addressing a press conference in Yola, the former NIRSAL boss, publicly announced his decision to answer the clarion calls of his people to contest the seat of Adamawa Central under the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC).
He said, “I have heard and accepted your calls so am offering myself for the senate because Adamawa Central deserves representation that is active, strategic, connected and productive. I am not coming to Abuja to warm a seat; Iam going there to work, to legislate, to advocate, to negotiate, to attract projects and to make the federal government more visible in the lives of our people.”
Despite accepting the clarion calls of his people, he said, “politics to him, is not a do or die affair and as a loyal party member, I would continue to be loyal to the party and accept whatever decision in choosing its candidates either through direct primaries or consensus irrespective of whether this decision favoured him or not.
“Adamawa Central is too important to remain under-leveraged and is blessed with history, location, people, enterprise farmland, waterways, intellect and strategic relevance but unfortunately many of the communities are still burdened by flooding, unemployment, weak infrastructures, educational hardship, insecure livelihood, under-funded health systems and loss economic opportunities.” These he described as unacceptable.
According to aspirant, “the Senate needed people with experience, people who have seen leadership from both the public and the private sectors and people with the maturity and technical know-how to engage ministers, lobby colleagues, move motions, support bills and pursue strategic follow-up that bring result back home. That is the kind of leadership I will offer the people of Adamawa Central,” he said.
The former NIRSAL boss also promised to collaborate with the federal government institutions and leaders of goodwill to bring more projects that would improve the living conditions of the people of Adamawa Central, especially in the areas of roads, irrigation, job creation, skills acquisition, health supports, educational access, livestock development, investment, security coordination and more economic life, among others.
He stressed that he would not seek development by noise but would pursue it by structured competence to earn result.
He further added that there were thousands of opportunities across federal Ministries, Departments and Agencies that Adamawa Central had not sufficiently tapped pointing out that, the ministry of livestock development alone showed how federal intervention could support animal health, dairy value chains, pasture management, veterinary services and conflict reduction “if there is focus representation.”
Abbati stressed the need for collaborations among political leaders to achieve results with a promise to always be accessible to the people to get their views on development issues and align his vision with that of other political leaders at both the state and the national level to change the development trajectory of the senatorial district.
According to Abbati, leadership is a collective responsibility and all hands must be on deck to move the society forward.
Abbati’s record of service
Alhaji Aliyu Abbati Abdulhameed is a distinguished Nigerian agricultural scientist, economist and policy strategist whose career span over three decades of sustained public service and private sector leadership.
He was born in the heart of Jimeta Yola, Adamawa state, and has dedicated his professional life to transforming Nigeria agricultural sector through innovative finance, strategic policy and sustainable development.
His academic formation reflects both breadth and depth. Born in Limawa ward of Jimeta into the family of Alhaji Hamidu Zango, Abbati started his academic journey at the Central Primary School Jimeta, then gained admission into Government Secondary School Mubi where he was made the head boy.
He holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Agriculture and Agricultural Economics from Ahmadu Bello University (ABU) Zaria in 1987. This was the foundation that shaped his early intellectual commitments to Nigeria’s agrarian economy.
He later earned a masters degree in Public Administration from the Nigerian Defence Academy, Kaduna in 2013, followed by an MBA from Business School Netherlands in 2023 and an Executive masters certificate in project management from the project management college United Kingdom.
Abbati began his working career as management trainee in AFCOTT PLC Ngurore Adamawa state, from where he rose through the ranks to become the Area Manager in charge of cotton projects in the North East.
He later moved to Central Bank of Nigeria in the department of Development Finance where he built the institutional knowledge that eventually positioned him for one of the most consequential roles in Nigeria’s Agricultural financing history from 1995 to 2006.
Abbati also demonstrated rare entrepreneurial foresight as Managing Director of Agric Business and Allied Ventures Ltd where he pioneered Nigeria’s first private sector-led agricultural aggregation models and reached the peak of his career when he was appointed as the Managing Director/ Chief Executive Officer of NIRSAL Plc, a Central Bank of Nigeria subsidiary established to de-risk agricultural finance from 2015 to 2023.
He steered NIRSAL to the promised land through the complex terrain of institutional birth, political headwinds and stakeholders expectations establishing it as a globally recognised agric business finance entity with so many successes stories recorded during his time.
Under his watch, he forged partnerships with the African Development Bank and other multilateral bodies which resulted into so many successes and disbursed billion of Naira loans to farmers to boost agricultural activities in the country to grow the economy.
Vision and mission
Shedding more light on his vision for the people of Adamawa Central senatorial district, he vowed to give the constituents effective, dynamic, credible, befitting and result-oriented representation that is second to none in the history of the senatorial district, bequeath a legacy of committed and dedicated service to humanity based on solid trust, struggles and hard work to the youths.
He also vowed to influence and facilitate federal government presence and other interventions as well as partner with all relevant agencies to change the economic fortunes of his people.
He will also harness and re-direct the minds, talents and creativity of the youths to make them more productive and economically buoyant.
He also promised to foster unity and ensure harmonious and peaceful co- existence among the diverse ethnic,religious,cultural and political groups that make up the senetorial district,and to truly serve the people with high sence of sincerity,honesty,accountability and transparency inline with democratic principles.
Other vision outline by the senatorial hopeful includes to preserves and protect the collective interest of his people, carry the people along through adequate consultations,articulation and aggregation of their views,opinions and ideas for implementation,bring their challenges to national attention for solutions among other plans that will restores integrity and give them a place of pride in Nigerian politics.
His supporters said if elected into the Senate, Abbati’s election would mark a paradigm shift in Adamawa Central where for the first time a pure technocrat rather than a politician would mount the senatorial seat of the zone and going by his intellectual prowess, connections, social contacts and capacity to deliver results whenever entrusted with public responsibilities, the senatorial district would be better for it, if elected analysts believed.
