Abubakar Atiku Bagudu

Abubakar Atiku Bagudu
CON
Bagudu in 2023
Minister of Budget and Economic Planning
Incumbent
Assumed office
21 August 2023
PresidentBola Tinubu
Preceded byZainab Ahmed
Governor of Kebbi State
In office
29 May 2015 – 29 May 2023
DeputySamaila Yombe Dabai
Preceded byUsman Saidu Nasamu Dakingari
Succeeded byNasir Idris
Senator for Kebbi Central
In office
2009 – 29 May 2015
Preceded byAdamu Aliero
Succeeded byAdamu Aliero
Personal details
Born (1961-12-26) 26 December 1961 (age 62)
Political partyAll Progressives Congress (2014–present)
Other political
affiliations		Peoples Democratic Party (before 2014)
Alma materUsmanu Danfodiyo University
University of Jos
OccupationPolitician

Abubakar Atiku Bagudu CON (born 26 December 1961) is a Nigerian politician who is the current Nigerian minister of budget and economic planning. He served as governor of Kebbi State from 2015 to 2023.[1][2] He also served as the senator representing the Kebbi Central senatorial district from 2009 to 2015.

Life and education

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Atiku Bagudu is from a wealthy family, his father was the director of Primary education in Kebbi State. He obtained a BSc (Economics) degree from Usmanu Danfodiyo University, Sokoto, Msc (Economics) from the University of Jos and M.A. (International Affairs).[3] He is married to Zainab Bagudu.[4]

Political career

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In 2009, Bagudu succeeded Adamu Aliero when he won the by-election for the Kebbi Central Senatorial seat following Aliero's appointment by President Goodluck Jonathan to become the Minister for FCT in December 2008.[5]

In the 6 April 2011 elections, Bagudu won for the PDP with 173,595 votes. His predecessor Adamu Aliero, who had moved to the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC), came second with 137,299 votes and Aliyu Bello Mohammed of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) trailed with 11,953 votes.[6]

During the 2015 general elections, Atiku Bagudu moved from the ruling PDP to the All Progressives Congress (APC) and contested in the governorship election, winning a landslide victory in the polls.

In the 9 March 2019 Kebbi State gubernatorial election, Bagudu polled 673,717 votes, while his rival Sen. Isah Galaudu of PDP polled 106,633 votes.[7]

Bagudu contested and won the ticket of the All Progressives Congress (APC) for the 2023 Kebbi Central Senatorial election.[7] He lost the election to PDP incumbent Adamu Aliero who had previously moved from the APC, after losing the primaries.

He was appointed minister of budget and economic planning by president Bola Tinubu on 16 August 2023[8]

Corruption

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Bagudu was a known associate of former Nigerian dictator Sani Abacha, who was accused of stealing more than $2.2 billion of public funds during his five-year tenure as Nigerian president in the 1990s.[9] In 2003, Bagudu was arrested and extradited from Houston, Texas at the request of Jersey, where Bagudu had set up a shell company called Doraville Properties to launder funds stolen from Nigeria.[10] Bagudu eventually reached a settlement, agreeing to return $160 million of stolen money in exchange for deportation to Nigeria to face trial.[11] Despite the considerable evidence from legal authorities in the U.S., Jersey, and Switzerland, Bagudu was never questioned after returning to Nigeria.[12]

In 2014, the U.S. Department of Justice announced the repatriation of $480 million stolen by Sani Abacha and his co-conspirators. In its complaint, the U.S. government alleged that Sani Abacha, his son Mohammed Sani Abacha, their associate Abubakar Atiku Bagudu and others "embezzled, misappropriated and extorted billions of dollars from the government of Nigeria and others, then laundered their criminal proceeds through U.S. financial institutions and the purchase of bonds backed by the United States."[13][14] In February 2020, the U.S. government entered into a trilateral agreement with Nigeria and Jersey to repatriate over $300 million in additional money that Bagudu played a role in stealing during the Abacha regime.[15][10] The U.S. announced that it was continuing to seek forfeiture of over $177 million in additional laundered funds held in trusts that name Bagudu and his relatives as beneficiaries.[15] Bagudu is immune from prosecution while governor.[12]

Bagudu was one of the Nigerians unveiled by the 2021 Pandora Papers as hiding dirty money in offshore shell companies.[16][17]

See also

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Award

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In October 2022, the Nigerian national honour of Commander of the Order of the Niger (CON) was conferred on him by President Muhammadu Buhari.[18]

References

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  1. ^ "Atiku Bagudu re-elected in Kebbi". P.M. News. 10 March 2019. Retrieved 4 August 2021.
  2. ^ "The Executive Governor - Abubakar Atiku Bagudu | The Official Website of Kebbi State Government". www.kebbistate.gov.ng. Archived from the original on 9 July 2021. Retrieved 5 March 2022.
  3. ^ "Sen. Bagudu Abubakar Atiku". The Senate of Nigeria. Retrieved 9 May 2011.
  4. ^ "Kebbi gov's wife sensitizes physically challenged persons on virus". The Guardian. 11 April 2020. Retrieved 26 September 2021.
  5. ^ Ojo, Ayodele (4 August 2011). "Top gladiators in the senatorial poll". National Mirror. Archived from the original on 20 March 2012. Retrieved 9 May 2011.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  6. ^ "Collated Senate results". INEC. Archived from the original on 19 April 2011. Retrieved 8 May 2011.
  7. ^ a b "Governor Bagudu wins APC ticket for Kebbi Central". Premium Times. 29 May 2022. Retrieved 29 August 2024.
  8. ^ Tolu-Kolawole, Deborah (16 August 2023). "Full list of ministers and designations". The Punch. Retrieved 17 August 2023.
  9. ^ "Late Nigerian Dictator Looted Nearly $500 Million, Swiss Say". The New York Times. Associated Press. 19 August 2004. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 7 February 2020.
  10. ^ a b Ibekwe, Nicholas (4 February 2020). "Abacha Loot: US, Jersey, repatriate N112 billion laundered by Kebbi governor, Bagudu". Retrieved 7 February 2020.
  11. ^ "Star - Stolen Asset Recovery Initiative - Corruption Cases - Sani Abacha / Abubakar Bagudu". star.worldbank.org. Retrieved 7 February 2020.
  12. ^ a b Ibekwe, Nicholas (21 September 2019). "How Kebbi Governor, Abubakar Bagudu, was arrested in America". Retrieved 7 February 2020.
  13. ^ "U.S. Forfeits Over $480 Million Stolen by Former Nigerian Dictator in Largest Forfeiture Ever Obtained Through a Kleptocracy Action". www.justice.gov. 28 August 2014. Retrieved 7 February 2020.
  14. ^ "U.S. takes control of $480 million stolen by Nigerian dictator Abacha". Reuters. 7 August 2014. Retrieved 7 February 2020.
  15. ^ a b "U.S. Enters into Trilateral Agreement with Nigeria and Jersey to Repatriate Over $300 Million to Nigeria in Assets Stolen by Former Nigerian Dictator General Sani Abacha". www.justice.gov. 3 February 2020. Retrieved 7 February 2020.
  16. ^ Adebayo, Taiwo-Hassan (5 October 2021). "Pandora Papers: How Governor Bagudu amassed dirty billions and how he is hiding it". Premium Times. Retrieved 29 August 2024.
  17. ^ Reddy, Micah (29 August 2023). "Nigerian president appoints new minister accused of helping a former dictator launder looted billions". ICIJ. Retrieved 29 August 2024.
  18. ^ "Full List: 2022 National Honours Award Recipients The Nation Newspaper". The Nation. 9 October 2022. Retrieved 31 October 2022.
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