Sani Bello Abubakar

Abubakar Sani Bello (born 17 December 1967), also known as Lolo, is a Nigerian politician who is the current senator representing the Niger North Senatorial District. He previously served as the governor of Niger State from 2015 to 2023. He is a member of the All Progressives Congress (APC).

Abubakar Sani Bello was born on 17 December 1967, the son of the former military governor of Old Kano State, Col. Sani Bello. He attended St. Louis Primary School, Kano from 1974 to 1979, and then went to the Nigerian Military School from 1980 to 1985. He studied at the University of Maiduguri from 1986 to 1991, where he obtained a BSc in economics.

He has worked in various capacities in the country, starting from his National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) days, where he was posted to serve in Port Harcourt in the marketing department of NICOTES Services as Supervisor.

Alhaji Abubakar Sani Bello won the Niger State, APC gubernatorial primaries for the 2015 election, polling 3,829 votes to defeat Senator Musa Ibrahim. He later won the general election with a total of 593,709 votes, declared winner by INEC on 13 April 2015.

He was reelected as Governor of Niger State on 9 March 2019. On 24 August 2020, he endorsed a Reconciliation Committee and other committees at a State Executive Committee meeting, including members of the National Assembly from the State led by Senator Aliyu Sabi Abdullahi and other party chieftains. The aim of this committee was to rebuild and reposition the party for better performance in the 2023 elections.

During his administration, Governor Bello focused on improving Nigeria’s education sector by utilizing available resources. He prioritized education and rebuilt a significant number of boarding schools out of 60 in the state.