Abdulrazaq Abdulrahman
Abdulrazaq Abdulrahman is a Nigerian politician from Kano. They have contested 1 election (1 win) across 1 party, receiving 273K total votes. Most recent: 2023 Gubernatorial Elections as All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate.
Biography
AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq (born 5 February 1960) is a Nigerian politician who has served as governor of Kwara State since 2019. He was previously the CEO of First Fuels Limited. He contested unsuccessfully the governorship of Kwara State in 2003, 2007, and 2011 respectively under the Congress for Progressive Change political party and was successively defeated by Bukola Saraki in 2003 and 2007, and by Abdulfatah Ahmed in 2011. However, in 2019, he contested again under the ruling political party in Nigeria, the All Progressives Congress, and emerged as the governor of Kwara State, after he won the 2019 governorship election in the state.
In 2021, he introduced KwaraLEARN in basic education to empower teachers. By May 2023, during the first anniversary of KwaraLEARN's launch, he declared the programme one of his best policies ever. On 1 August 2023, he and other six governors were in the entourage of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to the Republic of Benin for the country's 63rd independence celebration. He was born in Kano State.
AbdulRahman is the son of Alhaji Abdulganiyu Abdulrasaq SAN, the first northern lawyer in Nigeria. He attended Capital School, Kaduna between 1966 and 1968; Bishop Smith Memorial School Ilorin between 1970 and 1971; and Government College Kaduna where he earned his West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) in 1976.
He entered politics in 1999 when Nigeria returned to democracy. In 2011, he unsuccessfully contested the governorship election in Kwara State on the platform of Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) and again contested unsuccessfully the Kwara Central Senatorial District on the platform of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in both 2011 and 2015.
He won the gubernatorial primary election of the All Progressives Congress for Kwara State in October 2018. He was elected as governor of Kwara State at the 2019 governorship election held on 9 March 2019 and sworn in on 29 May 2019.
On 19 March 2023, Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq was declared winner and reelected as the governor of Kwara State, defeating his closest rival Yaman Abdullahi of the People Democratic Party (PDP), having scored a majority of votes in the election.
On 24 May 2023, he emerged as the new Chairman of the Nigeria Governors' Forum at a closed-door meeting of the Governors in Abuja, succeeding Aminu Tambuwal (former governor of Sokoto State), with Seyi Makinde (governor of Oyo State) as the deputy chairman.
He is married to Prof. Olufolake Abdulrazaq (born 2 August 1967), and the couple has three sons.
Political Career
Party Positions
Policy positions from the All Progressives Congress (APC) party manifesto.
Agriculture
Launches the Irrigate Nigeria Project as a public-private partnership to develop small-scale irrigation and water catchment systems using modern technology to boost agricultural productivity.
Security & Defense
Will deploy modern aerial surveillance and advanced technology to monitor and deter intrusions into oil pipelines, power stations, and other critical national infrastructure in real time.
Environment & Climate
Accelerates the environmental cleanup and re-establishment of fisheries and profitable aquacultural activities in the Niger-Delta region to counter violent extremism and poverty-driven disaffection.
Economy & Trade
Will implement the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) and additional favorable policies to attract investment in deep-water assets within 6 months, including encouraging signature bonus negotiations and royalty reliefs.
Infrastructure
Creates regional industrial hubs in specific zones (North West, North East, South East, South South, South West, North Central) to focus on labor-intensive manufacturing, with tailored investments (e.g., textiles, dry ports, glass, pottery, solid minerals, regulated mining).
Enterprise grant support
Work with the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to simplify loan processes for commercial banks, mandate federally owned banks to provide low-cost loans to youth-led enterprises, and expand business incubation centers to support youth innovation.
Energy
Will mandate gas metering equipment on all facilities where gas flaring occurs within 6 months and establish a special enforcement unit to monitor compliance with the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) on gas flaring reduction, with non-compliance leading to financial penalties for affected communities.
Governance & Reform
Reserve at least 3 cabinet positions for individuals under 40 and 6 more positions for members under the age of 40, and mandate that at least 20% of political appointments to Ministries/Dangomas (MDAs) be reserved for individuals under 40.
Education
Raises the priority of addressing out-of-school children, establishes a task force to review and strengthen programs like school feeding, and aims to reduce disaffected youth recruitment by violent groups.
Healthcare
Will establish a network of upgraded, equipped, and staffed general hospitals in every Local Government Area, tertiary facilities in each State, and world-class specialist hospitals in each geo-political zone to improve healthcare accessibility and quality.
Technology & Digital
Supports the development of MSMEs through partnerships with fintech players to expand access to capital and business development services.
Reliefs and scholarships
Commits to a conditional income support program requiring recipients to meet human capital goals (school attendance, healthcare, nutrition) in exchange for payments.
Other Candidates in Kwara
Sources
Bio, State of Origin: Wikipedia ↗
Photo, Date of Birth: Wikidata ↗
Gender, Qualifications: INEC ↗