Yahaya Mohammed Inuwa is a Nigerian politician who contested the 2023 Gubernatorial Elections as the All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate in Gombe. They won with 343K votes (56.63%).

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2023APCGovernorship Election342,821 votes · 56.6%Won

2019APCGovernorship Election364,179 votes · 59.8%Won→See Yahaya Mohammed Inuwa’s full career →

In this race · 2023 Gubernatorial ElectionsAll candidates →

Adamu Aliyu Danmacca

AAC

Adamu Mohammed A

APP

Ahmed Khamisu Mailantarki

NNPP

Aliyu Muhammad Gana

ZLP

Amuga Keftin Esau

Biography

Muhammad Inuwa Yahaya (born 9 October 1961) is a Nigerian businessman and politician who has served as the governor of Gombe State since 2019. Muhammad Inuwa Yahaya was born on 9 October 1961 in Jekadefari, Gombe, Gombe State. His father, Alhaji Yahaya Umaru, was a famous businessman.

Yahaya attended the Central Primary School and the Government Science Secondary School in Gombe. He then studied at Ahmadu Bello University (ABU) Zaria, where he obtained a Bachelor of Science degree in Accounting in 1983.

Yahaya has worked in both the public and the private sector. He started his working career with the Bauchi State Investment and Property Development Company, where he was a principal accountant from 1984 to 1985. He was a managing director of A.Y.U Civil Engineering Company Ltd from 1993 to 1999.

In 2003, he was appointed as Commissioner for Finance and Economic Development by Governor Muhammed Danjuma Goje. Yahaya is a member of the following professional bodies: Association of Nation Accountants of Nigeria (ANAN), Nigeria Institute of Management (NIM), Chartered Institution of Taxation of Nigeria (ACITN).

Yahaya joined politics in 2003. In the governorship election in 2015, he was the flag bearer of the All Progressives Congress (APC) political party in Gombe State. On 1 October 2018, he won the Gombe State gubernatorial APC primary election with the highest votes, securing 859 votes against Mohammed Jibrin Barde’s 463 votes.

On 9 March 2019, Yahaya was declared governor-elect of Gombe State at the 2019 Gombe State gubernatorial election. He scored a total of 364,179 votes to defeat his closest rival, Sen. Usman Bayero Nafada of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), who polled 222,868 votes.

Governor Inuwa Yahaya of Gombe State won the Saturday’s governorship election for a second term in office. He polled 342,821 votes to defeat the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate, Muhammad Jibiri Barde, who scored 233,131 votes. The result declared by the Returning Officer of INEC, Maimuna Waziri, showed an APC victory with a margin of 74,493 votes.

He is married to two wives and has seven children, all residing in Gombe State. His first son married in 2022.

Party Positions

Policy positions from the All Progressives Congress (APC) party manifesto.

Security & Defense

Enhances compensation, medical care, housing support, scholarships, stipends, and health insurance for military personnel injured in duty and their families.

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Governance & Reform

Commits to amending Nigeria’s governance architecture through constitutional review and collaboration with the National Assembly and State Governments to grant States greater autonomy over critical matters like crime prevention, prisons, stamp duties, and taxation.

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Economy & Trade

Reforms the Federal Budgetary Methodology to move away from oil revenue dependence and base spending on projected growth, establishing an inflationary ceiling to optimize fiscal policy without causing excessive inflation.

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Infrastructure

Launches a National Infrastructure Campaign to modernize national infrastructure by hiring millions of unemployed Nigerians through the fiscal flexibility gained from reforming budgetary methodology.

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Agriculture

Will encourage local farmers to form farm cooperatives, enabling them to pool resources for modern farming equipment, fertiliser, and access priority government agricultural assistance programs (extension services), with tax breaks and credits.

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Environment & Climate

Will **reduce Nigeria’s gas flaring** by removing it from the top 10 countries with highest flares, aiming to maximize sector benefits while eliminating environmental harm.

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Anti-corruption

Curb reliance on imported goods via luxury taxes, higher tariffs, and processing fees while incentivizing local manufacturing with tax credits/rebates.

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Enterprise grant support

Provides tax credits, holidays, and reduced interest rate loans for businesses that hire a specified percentage of youth in their workforce and offer on-the-job training.

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Energy

Will increase Nigeria’s domestic crude oil production to **2.6 million barrels per day by 2027** and **4 million barrels per day by 2030**, while implementing a Special Enforcement and Monitoring Unit to deter theft, vandalism, and pipeline breaches using drones and aerial surveillance.

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Education

Introduces a new management system for federally funded primary and secondary schools via Boards of Education, reserving community representation in decision-making.

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Healthcare

Will strengthen primary healthcare infrastructure with incentive schemes, counterpart funding programs, and grassroots preventative care (vaccinations, cancer screening, blood pressure monitoring) in collaboration with state/local governments.

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Technology & Digital

Establishment of an advisory committee to review and reform regulatory frameworks for blockchain technology and virtual asset services.

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Reliefs and scholarships

Provides **conditional income support** to very poor households, tied to human capital development goals like high-school attendance, healthcare, and nutrition.

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