Buni Mai Mala

Mai Mala Buni (born 19 November 1967) is a Nigerian politician who has been serving as the governor of Yobe State since 2019. He was elected as governor during the 2019 Nigeria general elections under the platform of the All Progressives Congress. Buni was born on 19 November 1967 in Buni Yadi, Gujba, then North-Eastern State. As it is with the tradition in Northern Nigeria, Buni started memorising the Quran at an early age under the tutelage of his parents and other clerics before his enrolment into Buni Gari central primary school where he obtained the First School Leaving Certificate in 1979.

After completing his primary education, Buni gained admission into Government Secondary School Goniri in 1979 and obtained the West African Examinations Council certificate in 1985. While in active politics, Buni enrolled as a part-time student at the Espan Formation University, Benin Republic where he obtained a B.Sc. Degree in International Relations in 2014. He holds a Master's degree in International Relations from Leeds Beckett University, United Kingdom.

With a background in the family business of trade and transport, Buni also ventured into business at a very young age after completion of his secondary education. The quest to establish a factory to start a private company in furniture led him to College of Vocational Science and Technology, where he obtained a Diploma certificate in 2012. Mai Mala Buni chaired the board of several companies, including MBG Integrated Farms Ltd, MMB Petroleum and Chemical Company Nig. Ltd, MBG Construction and General Services Ltd, Buni Gari and Company Nig. Ltd, Bright View Capital Alliance Ltd, Subi Mega Global Solutions Ltd, Rehab Synergy Nig. Ltd, and First Integrated and Logistics Services Ltd.

Mai Mala Buni started his political journey in 1992 when he contested and won a Councilor seat under the National Republican Convention (NRC) party, representing Buni ward in the Gujba Local Government Area Council. He was subsequently elected as the speaker of the council. He became a senior legislative assistant in Nigeria’s National Assembly in 2000. In 2004, he was appointed a member of the University of Uyo governing council. In 2006, he was unanimously elected Chairman of the Advanced Congress of Democrats in Yobe State. In 2007, members of the Action Congress party in the state formed an alliance with the Advanced Congress of Democrats, unilaterally penciling him down unopposed for the Chairman of the Action Congress party, where he served from 2007 to 2010.

In 2011, Buni joined the then ruling All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP) in Yobe State and was appointed Special Adviser on Political Affairs and Legislative Matters to Yobe State Governor Ibrahim Gaidam. In 2013, after the merger of mega political parties to form the All Progressives Congress (APC), Mai Mala Buni became the pro tem state secretary of the party in Yobe State and was subsequently elected the pioneer state Chairman of APC in Yobe State. In 2014, he became the first elected National Secretary of the All Progressives Congress. This role led to his nomination as the APC flag bearer for the 2019 Yobe State gubernatorial election. During the 2019 general elections, he was elected as the fourth Executive Governor of Yobe State with 444,013 votes, defeating Alhaji Bello Iliya of the People Democratic Party (PDP), who received 95,703 votes.

In June 2020, the national working committee of the All Progressive Congress (APC) was dissolved, and a new interim committee was inaugurated, chaired by Mai Mala Buni, who also served as chairman of the party’s extraordinary convention committee. This committee was tasked with steering party activities for six months and preparing for the party’s extraordinary national convention. The tenure was extended for another six months on 8 December 2020 during a national executive council meeting in Abuja. During his inauguration as governor in May 2019, Mai Mala Buni pledged to ensure prompt payment of counterpart funds to UBEC to improve primary education, build more schools, employ more teachers, and provide additional instructional materials. He also committed to implementing the Home-Grown School Feeding Program.

As of April 2020, the state government under his leadership had spent over ₦2.1 billion on constructing seven model primary schools to decongest overcrowded urban schools. Yobe State, heavily affected by Boko Haram insurgency, facilitated the return of internally displaced persons (IDPs) by reconstructing their homes and providing livelihood support packages. Over 5,000 IDPs received support under the APPEALS Project, funded by the African Development Bank. In September 2020, the government inaugurated IDP housing projects sponsored by NNPC, Shell, SNEPCO, and Total Nigeria. In the health sector, 53 out of 178 proposed functional Primary Health Care Centers were constructed, equipped with laboratories, pharmacies, and housing for health personnel. Under his mass housing program, 1,800 housing units are under construction in six urban centers, with another 1,800 expected to begin after completion.

In October 2022, Governor Mai Mala Buni was conferred the Nigerian national honor of Commander of the Order of the Niger (CON) by President Muhammadu Buhari.