Mohammed Abdullahi Abubakar

Mohammed Abdullahi Abubakar was born on 11 December 1956 in Gombe, to the family of Late Alhaji Abdullahi Abubakar (ACP retired). He began his education at Jos Native Authority Primary School from 1963 to 1968 before moving to Tudun Wada Primary School in Kano in 1969.

From 1970 to 1974, he attended Government College Kano (Rumfa College), where he completed his secondary education. He later joined the School of Basic Studies at Ahmadu Bello University Zaria for a one-year pre-degree program in 1974.

Between 1975 and 1978, he studied law at the Faculty of Law, Ahmadu Bello University Zaria, earning an LLB with Honours. He proceeded to Nigerian Law School, Lagos (1978–1979) for his Bar examination course and was called to the bar upon completion.

During his National Youth Service Corps from 1979 to 1980, he taught at Rivers State College of Science and Technology. After completing his service, he joined the civil service in Bauchi State as a Pupil State Counsel in the Ministry of Justice.

He rose through the ranks to become Senior Parliamentary Counsel and Head of Legal Drafting Department for Bauchi State House of Assembly by 1983. During military rule in the early 1990s, he practiced law privately as Managing Partner of Fortuna Chambers.

From 1996 to 1998, he served as Chairman of the Nigerian Bar Association’s Bauchi State Branch and was elected Deputy National Secretary of the Democratic People’s Party in 1997. He later worked as Resident Electoral Commissioner for INEC across Kogi, Delta, Plateau, and Rivers States (1999–2003).

In 2003, he was promoted to National Electoral Commissioner overseeing legal services and supervising elections in Borno, Jigawa, and Yobe states. He retired from INEC in 2008 and resumed private practice as Managing Partner of M.A. Abubakar & Co. (formerly Fortuna Chambers), with offices in Abuja, Port Harcourt, and Bauchi.

Appointed a member of the National Judicial Council in June 2013, he was elected Governor of Bauchi State on the APC platform on 11 April 2015, winning over 654,934 votes. He assumed office on 29 August 2016, succeeding Isa Yuguda.

Known popularly as Makama Baba, he was the first governor of Bauchi to not win reelection in the 2019 election, losing to PDP’s Bala Mohammed. He remains married with children and is a supporter of football clubs Manchester United and Wikki Tourists.