Current Kwara Governor, Abdulfatah Ahmed has picked up the PDP nomination form for Kwara South Senatorial District. Last week, the governor announced that “in response to calls by my people and in keeping with my strong desire to upscale the excellentb work we have done in all the 3 zones of the state, through effective, purposeful representation, I have picked up the PDP nomination form for Kwara South Senatorial District”. He paid the sum of N500,000.
Next May he will be completing his 2-terms in office. He was elected Governor of Kwara State in the 26 April 2011 elections, running on the All Progressives Congress (APC) platform.
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 B.Sc in Chemistry (1986) and a Master of Business Administration (MBA, 1992).
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). 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.
Ahmed was appointed Commissioner for Finance and Economic Development at the start of Abubakar Bukola Saraki’s Kwara State Administration (2003–2009).
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 6 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.
In the PDP primaries, Ahmed won 695 votes, defeating Chief Bashir Omoloja Bolarinwa (39 votes) and Alhaji Yekinni Alabi (9 votes).
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.
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.
Alhaji Abdulfatah Ahmed, the 6th Executive Governor of Kwara State, brought to the position composite experience in the academia, banking and the public sector.
Governor Ahmed’s stint in governance started in 2003 when on the back of a highly-successful banking career, he was appointed pioneer Commissioner for Finance in the administration of Dr. Abubakar Bukola Saraki. During a 6-year period, Alhaji Ahmed ensured prudent management of state resources which twice earned the State Government excellent rating by the Fitch Rating International (An International Rating Agency) – the very first by any State Government in the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
Following 6 years as Commissioner for Finance, Alhaji Ahmed was in 2009 moved to the Ministry of Planning and Economic Development. This position would prove pivotal to his current flair for empirical and strategic planning.
Yet the foundation for this track-record was modest. Born in Kaduna, Northern Nigeria in the fifties, Alhaji Ahmed, who hails from Share in Ifelodun Local Government Area of Kwara State, had his secondary education at the Government College, Funtua, Katsina State (1973-1978).
Alhaji Ahmed went further to earn a B.Sc. in Chemistry in 1986, and a Master of Business Administration (MBA) degree in 1992. Alhaji Ahmed is also an alumnus of the Manchester School of Business, and the J.F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University.
Since the inception of Governor Abdulfatah Ahmed’s administration in 2011, his vision has been to make Kwara State a major economic hub by leveraging on competitive advantages in agriculture, entrepreneurship, innovation and location.
Among the various programs embarked on by the administration to ensure prosperity for Kwarans is the Kwara Micro Credit Intervention Scheme which was established to boost small and medium scale enterprises in the state with an initial N250m. The scheme has since grown to a cumulative N1.9b with more than 50,000 beneficiaries.
In recognition of the need for engineering education and to position the state for technological leadership, Governor Ahmed constructed an N800m Engineering complex for the Kwara State University (KWASU and expanded access by subsidizing tuition at the university.
Furthermore, in his drive to promote entrepreneurship in the state through vocational training, Alhaji Ahmed established the International Vocational Technical and Entrepreneurship Centre, (IVTEC), at Ajase Ipo in Irepodun Local Government Council Area of the state.
To ensure global recognition, the state government has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Alfred University New York for technical and management collaboration at IVTEC.
Following the need to ensure access to medical facilities in the state, over 120,000 rural dwellers have been enrolled into the state’s award-winning Community Health Insurance Scheme (CHIS). The scheme has been adjudged as one of the most successful by the United Nations, and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).
In order to sustain infrastructural development in the state, Governor Abdulfatah Ahmed recently officially launched the Kwara State Infrastructure Development Fund (IFK). The fund is a sustainable platform designed to finance infrastructure without reliance on federal allocation.
In addition to a N5 billion seed fund, the sum of N500 million is drawn every month from the State’s Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) into the IFK.
To reduce the housing deficit in the state, Alhaji Abdulfatah Ahmed in March, 2016, flagged off the construction of 1,000 housing units at Budo-Osho area, Tanke Ilorin. The construction is aimed at providing quality and affordable shelter for low and middle class workers.
For these laudable policies and programmes, Governor Ahmed has won recognition from several quarters. These include Global Excellence Award for Best Governor in Northern Nigeria (2011), City People’s Best Governor, North Central 2011, and African Leadership Magazine’s Outstanding Agricultural Development Icon of the Year 2011, Business Day Best Governor in Agriculture 2013, City People Best Governor in Youth Empowerment 2013, NUT Best Governor in Education 2013, HOG Governor of the Year 2013 and BusinessDay Best Governor in Youth Development and Sports.
He is married to Mrs. Omolewa Ahmed, and they are blessed with children.
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