Sen. Ibraham Gaidam serves currently as the Minister of Police Affairs, Federal Republic of Nigeria. He represented the Yobe East Senatorial District between 2009 until 2019 under the umbrella of the All Progressives Congress, APC, he served as Governor, Yobe State. He is an accountant who belongs to the Certified Public Accountants of Nigeria (CPA), a public servant, an intelligent administrator and a classroom instructor.
ENigeria Newspapers gives a brief profile of Sen. Ibrahim Gaidam for your reading pleasure.
Profile summary
Name: Ibrahim Gaidam
Born: 15th September, 1956
State of origin: Yunusari LGA, Yobe, Nigeria
Education: Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria
Religion: Islam
Career: Politician, Accountant, Teacher
Marital status: Married
Early Life
Gaidam was born on September 15th, 1956, in former Borno, now Yobe State, Bukarti town in Yunusari Local Government Area.
Education
Gaidam attended Yunusari Primary School to obtain his Primary Education in 1963–1969. He later proceeded to obtain his Teachers’ Grade Two Certificate from Borno Teachers College (BTC), Maiduguri, between 1974–1979, he acquired an
Accountancy Diploma from Ahmadu Bello University (ABU), Zaria, in 1981–1983.
He graduated from Ahmadu Bello University (ABU) and obtained a Bachelor of Science in Accounting.
Politics
When Compol Dabo Aliyu, the then-military administrator of Yobe State, nominated Gaidam as the Commissioner for Youths and Sports and afterwards the Commissioner of Commerce Industries, he resigned from the civil service in 1995.He retained this job until his return to the civil service in 1997.
Gaidam served in the civil service in a number of noteworthy capacities between 1997 and 2007.
Under the direction of Governor Mamman Bello Ali, he was sworn in as the elected Deputy Governor of Yobe State in May 2007. He ran on the platform of the All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP).
After Governor Ali passed away on January 27th, 2009, Gaidam was sworn in as the Yobe State’s executive governor.
He was chosen to lead the ANPP’s electoral strategy committee in 2011. On April 26, 2011, Gaidam was also re-elected as governor of Yobe State.
Gaidam joined the All Progressives Congress as an official member after a number of political parties, including the ANPP, merged to establish it in 2013.
On April 11, 2015, he was re-elected to serve as the governor of Yobe State on the APC ticket.
On March 23, 2019, Gaidam was elected to the 9th National Assembly as the senator for the Yobe East Senatorial District, ending his term.
He chairs the basic and secondary education subcommittee of the Senate.
Leadership Philosophy and Style
Governor Gaidam is committed to ensuring that Yobe is converted into a more economically wealthy State and that his administration brings the benefits of democracy directly to the people’s doorsteps.
Among many other interventions, his directive to the state finance ministry to pay over 4,000 civil servants whose names were omitted during the biometric exercise and to pay teachers’ salaries in accordance with the percentages recommended by the federal government are widely praised in Yobe State and elsewhere as magnanimous and legendary.
Awards
Some honors he has received includes;
Blueprint Newspapers Distinguished Education Champion Award in 2018.
Award of Excellence from The Nigeria Medical Association (NMA), Yobe State Chapter in 2017.
Nigeria Union of Pensioners (NUP) Award of Excellence in recognition of prompt payment of gratuities and pensions to pensioners in 2017.
Nigeria’s Governor of the Year in Education Award by the African Education Monitor Magazine in 2018.
In August 2023, he was appointed Minister of Police Affairs for the Federation by president Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
Accomplished projects
Some notable contributions of Sen. Ibrahim Gaidam to the growth and development of Yobe state are;
Contributions from the Yobe State Government to the project worth $200 million for erecting a new military barracks in the Yobe state capital, Damaturu.
Building of Yobe’s first university teaching hospital with cutting-edge technology and hiring of highly qualified employees.
Statewide renovation and extension of five secondary schools.
Over 300 classroom blocks and over 24 primary school buildings were rebuilt, and they were gated to increase protection against Boko Haram.
Katarko Bridge Reconstruction Along the Damaturu-Gujba-Gulani Axis.
Provision of Solar-powered street lighting across the state’s capital.
Dualization of major roads in the state. Sponsorship of over 400 medical students in schools both inside and outside of Nigeria.
Controversies
Gaidam was criticized for transferring his family to a safe location while Boko Haram continued to make life miserable for other people of the area by a prominent opposition figure in Yobe State who chose to remain unnamed.
“A Bill for an Act to Establish a National Agency for the Education, Rehabilitation, De-radicalization and Integration of Repentant Insurgents in Nigeria” is a highly contentious piece of legislation that Gaidam supported.
By awarding them amnesty, the measure seeks to create a body that will fully reintegrate Boko Haram insurgents into Nigerian society.
Gaidam faced harsh criticism from both his colleagues and the general public for sponsoring this law.
