Abubakar Abdul'aziz Yari

Alhaji Abdul'aziz Abubakar Yari (born 28 September 1968) is a Nigerian politician who was elected Governor of Zamfara State in the 26 April 2011 national election, running on the All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP) platform. Following the merger of the ANPP and several other opposition parties into the All Progressives Congress, his son Sultan Yari became a member of the All Progressives Congress.

Yari attended Talata Mafara Township Primary School, then proceeded to Government Teacher's College in Bakura from 1979 to 1984. He finished his tertiary education at Sokoto Polytechnic from 1991 to 1994 where he obtained a certificate and later a Diploma in Secretarial Studies in 2004. He also attended Kebbi Polytechnic for a Graduate Diploma in Public Administration in 2008.

Yari obtained a Leadership and Change Certificate from the London School of Economics in 2023 and a Master of Science in Finance and Investment Management from the University of Salford Manchester, UK, in 2025.

Yari began his political career in 1999 when he served as the Secretary of the then All Nigeria People's Party (ANPP) between 1999 and 2003. He was elected Chairman of ANPP Zamfara State in 2003 and later rose to the position of ANPP National Financial Secretary, serving until 2007. He was elected as Member representing Anka/Talata Mafara Federal Constituency from 2007 to 2011.

On 26 April 2011, Yari was elected Governor of Zamfara State on the ANPP platform. In the 2015 gubernatorial elections, he was re-elected as Governor on the platform of the All Progressive Congress (APC). On 18 May 2015, Yari's colleagues in the Nigeria Governors’ Forum unanimously elected him as their Chairman, succeeding Rt. Hon. Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi.

When Zamfara State Governor Mahmud Shinkafi defected to the PDP in January 2009, taking the ANPP's state executive committee with him, the ANPP's National Headquarters in Abuja created a Caretaker Committee headed by Yari, whose tenure was repeatedly extended.

Yari defeated Governor Mahmud Aliyu Shinkafi in the 2011 election by 514,962 votes to Shinkafi's 460,656 votes. He said concerning the 2019 election that it is time to repay Buhari's bailout gesture.

As his term as governor drew to a close, Yari ran for the Zamfara West senate seat and won on the APC platform, but his election and other APC candidates in the 2019 general election in Zamfara were nullified by the Supreme Court. The court ordered INEC to declare the runner-ups as winners.

Yari was named the Chairman of the Senate committee on water resources of the 10th Senate on 8 August 2023.

The Zamfara State Project Verification Committee, led by Ahmad Zabarma, probed projects under Yari’s governorship. Zabarma announced that ₦3 billion was spent on an incomplete Zamfara State University project and ₦70 billion on a non-started House of Assembly renovation. Other allegations included ₦35 million unrefunded to Hajj pilgrims, missing vehicles, and ₦8.4 billion spent on exotic cars.

Yari claimed political persecution by his successor, Bello Matawalle, and the Project Verification Committee’s final report accused his administration of stealing over ₦107 billion. Matawalle set up a Commission of Inquiry in October 2020.

In September 2020, Rabiu Garba, Finance Commissioner for Matawalle, accused Yari and an associate of diverting ₦37 billion in federal project refunds. Yari’s Finance Commissioner, Muktar Idris, denied the accusation, claiming the money was used for road building.

In February 2021, The Peoples Gazette reported that Yari wired ₦350 million to EFAB Properties Limited, linked to Fabian Nwaora, a public works contractor. The EFCC investigated multiple last-minute transfers but did not confirm the EFAB transfer.

Yari was detained and interrogated by the EFCC in February and April 2021 over allegations of conspiracy, diversion of public funds, and money laundering, including a Paris Club refund corruption case involving the Central Bank of Nigeria, Attorney-General Abubakar Malami, and others.

The Independent Corrupt Practices Commission (ICPC) accused Yari of embezzling funds from Zamfara State’s treasury. In January 2021, a court approved the seizure of $669,248 and ₦24.3 million, citing Yari’s inability to explain the funds’ sources.

In February 2022, the ICPC won an interim forfeiture order for 10 properties in Abuja, Kaduna, Zamfara, and Maryland, USA, pending further investigation.