Aliyu Muktar Betara

Muktar Aliyu Betara is a Nigerian accountant and lawmaker who first represented Borno State’s Biu/Bayo/Shani and Kwaya Kusar Federal Constituency in the House of Representatives since 2007.

He served as Chairman of the House Committee on Appropriations during the 9th Assembly (starting June 2019), marking his fourth tenure as a member of the House.

An indigene of Zarawuyaku in Biu township, Borno State, Betara was born on January 1, 1966 into a large family with 21 children. His father was a civil servant and his mother a housewife.

He began education at Biu Central Primary School (1973–1978), then pursued secondary studies at Biu Central Junior Day Secondary School before attending Government Technical Secondary School Benishek, where he became head prefect and earned his West Africa School Certificate in 1983.

After furthering his education at Ramat Polytechnic Maiduguri (OND in Business Administration, 1986), Betara worked as an Accountant with the Presidency’s DFFRI from 1986 to 1990. He later obtained an HND in Accounting and Business Administration at Ramat Polytechnic in 1992.

He served in the National Youth Service Corps (Delta State Government House, Asaba) before joining NITEL as a Manager, retiring voluntarily in 2006 to enter politics.

Initially running on the ANPP platform in 2007 for the House of Representatives, Betara switched to APC and has been re-elected three times, serving in the sixth, seventh, eighth, and ninth assemblies.

From 2007–2011, he chaired the Sub-committee on NDIC, Banking, and Currency while also being a member of the Interior Committee. Later, he became Chairman of CIPPO’s Sub-committee.

At the seventh assembly (2011–2015), Betara led the House Committee on the Army, advising reforms to counter insurgency in northern Nigeria. From 2015–2019, he chaired the Defence Committee.

Since 2019, as Chairman of the Appropriations Committee, Betara has modernized budget cycles (June-to-December) and secured passage of key Acts like the 2022 Appropriation Act and 2021 Finance Act for three years in a row.

He has championed bills such as the Defence Research and Development Bureau Bill (2018) and repeal efforts on export enforcement laws. A devout Muslim, Betara is married with four children.