Abbas Balarabe Biography
During the screening process on Wednesday, Abbas Lawal Balarabe, a nominee for a minister, sagged on the Senate floor.
On Tuesday, President Bola Tinubu sent the names of Mr. Olawande Ayodele Olawale, Dr. Jamila Bio Ibrahim, and Mr. Balarabe to the senator for verification.
Ibrahim bowed, and Balarabe mounted the podium to address the senators, but after making a brief introduction, he sagged.
After senators refused to confirm Lawal in August, he succeeded Nasir El-Rufai as the former governor of Kaduna State.
Abbas Balarabe Facts
1. Abbas Lawal Balarabe, a 65-year-old native of Kachia Local Government in Kaduna State, was born on February 5, 1958.
2. Balarabe graduated from Ahmadu Bello University in Zaria with a Bachelor of Science in Political Science in 1981. The same university also awarded him a Master’s degree in Political Science in 1986.
3. From 2015 until 2023, he was the Secretary of the State Government of Kaduna, serving under the leadership of Nasir El-Rufai.
4. He served as the Federal Minister of Education’s Special Assistant in Abuja from September 1999 to February 2001. Additionally, he served as a Special Assistant to the Minister of State (Army) at the Ministry of Defence from February 2001 until May 2003.
5. From July 2003 to July 2007, he held a number of jobs, including Chief of Staff to the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory in Abuja and Special Assistant to the President in the Federal Capital Territory.
6. Having served as the Managing Director of Rightedge Property Nigeria Limited, Abuja since October 2008, he has experience in real estate and property management.
7. Balarabe is involved in agriculture farming, cattle, and poultry raising within the Zaria Metropolis.
About Abbas Balarabe
In a letter to the Senate, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu requested that Balarabe Abbas Lawal be screened for a Kaduna ministry position.
Governor Nasir El-Rufai’s secretary to the government, Lawal, takes El-Rufai’s place in Tinubu’s cabinet.
The Ministry of Environment will be included in his portfolio.
The Senate has previously nominated and vetted El-Rufai. However, he was not exonerated due to purported “security concerns.”
Two more candidates for the youth ministry, Dr. Jamila Bio Ibrahim and Olawale Olawande, were added in Tinubu’s letter to Akpabio.
Olawande from Ondo State will be the minister of state, while Jamila, a physician from Kwara State, will be the minister.
In Kachia, Kaduna State, on February 5, 1958, Balarabe Lawal was born.
From 1964 till 1970, he attended Kofar Kuyambana Primary School.
After that, he attended the renowned Barewa College in Zaria from 1971 to 1975. Lawal attended Katsina College of Arts, Science, and Technology from Barewa and graduated in 1978.
From 1978 to 1981, he moved from Katsina to study political science at Ahmadu Bello University in Zaria. In 1987, he also received a master’s degree in political science from the institution.
Balarabe Lawal worked as a lecturer at Zaria’s College of Advanced Studies after receiving his degree till July 1989.
From July 1989 until August 1991, he served as the Principal Management Development Officer at the Administrative Staff College of Nigeria (ASCON).
His next job was as Principal Manager (Administration) at National Electric Power Authority (NEPA), where he was employed from July 1991 to 1999.
Balarabe Lawal first worked as the Minister of State for Education’s Special Assistant from September 1999 to February 2001, following Nigeria’s return to democracy in 1999. Later, from February 2001 until May 2003, he served in a comparable capacity as Special Assistant to the Minister of State for Army at the Ministry of Defence in Abuja.
Additionally, he worked as the Federal Capital Territory’s Minister of the Federal Capital Territory’s Chief of Staff and Special Assistant to the President. July 2003 until July 2007.
Prior to being named secretary to the Kaduna government in 2015, Balarabe Lawal oversaw Rightedge Property Nigeria Limited, his own real estate company. Up until May of 2023, he served as the secretary to the Kaduna government. He concluded his tenure as head of the transition committee, which helped to install Governor Uba Sani’s administration on May 29, 2023.
Who is Abbas Balarabe?
From 2015 till 2023, he was the Secretary of the State Government of Kaduna under the administration of Nasir El-Rufai. 4. He served as the Federal Minister of Education’s Special Assistant in Abuja from September 1999 to February 2001.
