Umar Abubakar

Abubakar Umar Tutare (born 13 February 1965) is a Nigerian politician who served as the senator representing the Taraba Central senatorial district from 2011 to 2015. He was elected in the 2011 Nigerian Senate elections, running on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). Tutare was a representative in the Taraba State House of Assembly for two terms. He was appointed commissioner for the Finance, Commerce and Works ministries of the state, and finally Secretary to the State Government (SSG).

He was a contender to be PDP candidate for the Taraba Central senate seat in the April 2007 elections, but lost out to Dahiru Bako, who went on to be elected. In June 2010, it was reported that Tutare was being questioned by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) for alleged misappropriation of state government funds when he was commissioner of finance under Governor Jolly Nyame. Later that month, Tutare resigned from his position as SSG so he could compete in the senatorial election for Taraba Central.

Tutare won the January 2011 PDP primaries to be the party's candidate in the April 2011 elections and was accepted as candidate by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC). However, the PDP leadership decided to substitute the incumbent senator, Dahiru Bako, as their candidate. When the PDP called for a re-run of the primary, Tutare filed a suit against the party. The re-run was boycotted by many of the delegates. Bako was declared the winner. On 12 March 2011, Governor Danbaba Suntai visited Mutum Biyu, the headquarters of Gassol local government area, and tried to give Bako his flag to formally start his campaign, leading to clashes between supporters of the two factions in which hundreds of people were injured.

The mood leading up to the elections was tense, with allegations that state security forces were removing the posters of opposition candidates and throwing supporters of the opposition into jail. On 1 April 2011, a Federal High Court in Yola declared Tutare the lawful candidate. The INEC declared Tutare the winner of the April elections with 126,165 votes, ahead of Abubakar Ahmed Rufi of the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) with 25,900 votes and Mustapha JH. Gambo of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) with 11,816 votes. Following his election, in May 2011, Tutare declared that the state was rich in agricultural, mineral, and tourist resources. He promised to deliver good roads, clean water, and quality education and healthcare. He noted that none of the towns or villages in his senatorial district was connected to the national electricity grid.

In June 2011, Tutare was implicated in an EFCC case against former Governor Jolly Nyame, where he allegedly assisted in a N1.3 billion fraud.

Party Positions

Policy positions from the Labour Party (LP) party manifesto.

Agriculture

Will optimize agricultural value chains across all 36 states with targeted investments, addressing impediments like banditry, kidnapping, and desertification to enhance food security and advance agro-based industrialization.

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Governance & Reform

Will restructure the Nigerian federation through legal and institutional reforms to strengthen federalism by moving agreed items from the exclusive list of the Federal government to the concurrent list, ensuring effective public action for growth and sustainable livelihood.

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Security & Defense

Will implement key recommendations from previous police and security sector reform reports, including a three-level policing structure (local, state, federal) with detailed guidelines to curb abuses.

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Reliefs and scholarships

Will resolve the national minimum wage problem by replacing the extant salary structure with an hourly productivity-based national minimum wage, ensuring binding application across all sectors.

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Economy & Trade

Will reform the transport system, including logistics, ports, customs, and other agencies, to create an integrated transport system promoting inter-connectivity among ports, roads, rail, and inland waterways to reduce trade costs and enhance competitiveness.

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Enterprise grant support

Will devise programs to reskill youths, create mandatory national certification for blue-collar artisans, strengthen STEM tertiary schools, and establish a venture capital-like fund for young entrepreneurs.

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Environment & Climate

Will establish a Green Army to tap into $3 trillion in international climate finance for green growth, employment, and transition to a green economy.

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Anti-corruption

Will establish the Office of Special Counsel to investigate and prosecute executive abuses of power and corruption, with constitutional amendments to exempt its prosecutions from the Nolle Prosequi power of the Attorney General.

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Energy

Launch a solar power revolution in Northern Nigeria, ensuring uninterrupted power supply in cities and industrial parks by the end of 2024 through re-engagement of 14 Independent Power Producers (IPPs) and resolving financial impediments to reach $2.5 billion in PPAs for 1,125 MW of solar capacity.

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Technology & Digital

Support private sector-led fiber-optic backbone projects connecting tertiary institutions and state capitals to enable free broadband access for digital transformation.

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Infrastructure

Creation of national multi-utility transport tunnels (MUT) to integrate masterplans for gas, road, railway, urban mass transit, telecommunications, water, sewage, and electricity for cost efficiency and streamlined infrastructure development.

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Education

Will implement a Marshall Plan-style education reform program with compulsory technical and vocational skills, entrepreneurship, and digital training from primary to secondary level, with strategic partnerships for incubators and seed funding.

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Healthcare

Expand health insurance coverage to 133 million poorest Nigerians (including pregnant women, children, the elderly, and disabled) through strengthened NHIS with private sector involvement, ensuring accessibility and affordability.

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Foreign Policy

Engage in Afro-centric diplomacy to protect Nigerian citizens abroad and advance economic interests through trade, investment, and diplomatic leverage.

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