IGNATIUS OKOROCHA
Distinguished Senator (Dr.) Barau Ibrahim Jibrin (CFR) who is the Deputy President of Nigeria’s 10th Senate and First Deputy Speaker of ECOWAS Parliament is the Senator representing Kano North Senatorial district in the North west geopolitical zone of the country. Senator Jibrin is not only a grass root politician but can be said to be among the very few politicians who can be said to be a born parliamentarian considering the ease with which he handles the demands of his office. To say that some people are born great while some others earn greatness through hard work is true of Senator Barau Jibrin.
An Accountant turned Politician, Senator Barau Jibrin is one of the most experienced legislators in the current Senate of the Federal Republic of Nigeria in particular and National Assembly in general.
Jibrin’s efficient performance and pragmatic ways of handling legislative matters on the floor of the Senate anytime he has the opportunity to preside over the affairs of the Red Chamber in the absence of the President, Senator Godswill Akpabio have always given eloquent testimony to his wide knowledge of legislative matters, having learnt through the ropes from the House of Representatives to the Senate. Senator Barau Jibrin has always won the admiration of both his colleagues and the general public anytime he presides over proceedings in the plenary, in the upper legislative Chamber in the National Assembly.
It is not surprising, why at the contest for the seat of the President of the Senate, Jibrin vehemently contested for the office going by his intimidating high profile in parliamentary experience and when it was zoned to the South, he willingly paired with Senator Godswill Akpabio and eventually emerged as the Deputy President of the Senate.
Born on June 19, 1959, in his hometown of Kabo, the headquarters of Kabo Local Government Area of Kano State, Senator Barau began his journey to the legislative arm of government in 1999 when the country returned to civil rule.
In appreciation of his contributions to the development of the community, especially in the areas of health and education, the people of Tarauni Federal Constituency of Kano Central Senatorial District (not his own Kano North Senatorial District) voted for him to represent them in the House of Representatives in 1999.
Between 1999 and 2003, when he served at the Green Chamber, he chaired the Committee on Appropriations. As the chairman of the committee, he initiated the practice of providing opportunities for federal legislators to nominate projects to be implemented in their constituencies (Constituency Projects) in the federal government’s annual budget.
Constituency Projects, as the initiative has come to be known, have facilitated the spread of federal projects to the nooks and crannies of the country, hence its adoption by the federal government. The state parliaments have also adopted it.
Senator Barau also served on other committees in the House of Representatives, including the Committee on Power. In recognition of his legislative skill, the then president, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, appointed him as a member of the committee set up to review Nigeria’s budgetary process.
Upon completing his term at the House of Representatives, Senator Barau returned to private practice. At the State level, he was appointed by the Kano State Government as a member of the Kano State Business Incentive Committee in 2009; he performed creditably well to the admiration of many in the State.
Popularly known as Maliya, Senator Barau served as the Chairman of the Kano State Investment and Properties Ltd. He was also a one-time Commissioner of Science and Technology in the State.
In 2013, when the All Progressives Congress (APC) was formed, he was one of the frontline members of the party in Kano State, the nation’s centre of commerce. In 2015, he contested and won the election for the Kano North Senatorial District on the platform of the APC, thus returning to Parliament.
After the inauguration of the Senate in June 2015, Senator Barau was named the Vice Chairman of the Senate Committee on Petroleum (Downstream). Months later, he was elevated to chair the same committee.
Later, in 2016, he was reassigned to the Senate Committee on Tertiary Institutions and TETfund as its chairman, a position he held until the end of the 8th National Assembly. He was also a member of the Committee on Niger Delta, Industries, Land Transportation and Appropriations between 2015 and 2019.
Satisfied with his representation, his constituents re-elected him in the 2019 general election to represent them for a second term. Because of his background as an accountant, he was appointed Chairman of the Senate Committee on Appropriations.
For four years, he chaired the appropriations committee, and it was under him that the country’s budget circle was returned to January–December, a feat that was applauded by all and sundry.
Aside from the appropriation committee, he was a member of the Senate Committees on Police Affairs, Industries, Environment, and Inter-Parliamentary Affairs during the 9th Senate. For five years, he was the secretary of the Northern Senators’ Forum, from 2016 to 2021.
A pro-masses parliamentarian and patriotic politician, Senator Barau’s critical areas of legislative interest are education, agriculture and the economy.
In 2017, members of the watchdog of society recognised his sterling performance i.e. the Nigerian Senate Press Corps, the umbrella body of all journalists covering the Senate, when they bestowed on him the “Northern Senator of the Year 2017’’. He has also received the “Budget Cycle Restoration Award’’ from the Senate Press Corps.
This same watch dog of the Society, this same media platform,(the Senate Press corps) had on Monday, December 16, 2024 again honoured the Deputy President of the Senate, Senator Jibrin, with the “Highest Development – Driven Bills Sponsorship Award “
In October 2022, the Nigerian national honour of Commander of the Order of the Niger (CON) was conferred on him by President Muhammadu Buhari.
In the 2023 general elections, the people of Kano North Senatorial District, returned Senator Barau to the Upper Chamber for the third time consecutively.
On June 13, when the Parliament was inaugurated following the proclamation by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, the ranking lawmaker and veteran legislator, Barau Jibrin, emerged unopposed following his endorsement by all his colleagues during the election for the office of the Deputy President of the Senate.
When the sixth Legislature of the ECOWAS Parliament was inaugurated in April, 2024 Senator Jibrin was unanimously elected as the First Deputy Speaker of the sub regional Assembly. For two months, he acted as the Speaker of the ECOWAS Parliament until the Speaker of Parliament emerged.
The Deputy President of the Senate holds a bachelor’s degree in accounting, a Master’s certificate in Financial Management and Pricing, a Master’s certificate in Management, and a Master of Business Administration (MBA). He also holds a certificate in Financial Management from the prestigious Cornell University, United States.
After his initial higher studies, the Senator worked briefly in the accounting department of the Kano State Foundation before resigning in 1992 to begin his private business with vast interests in the manufacturing, insurance and construction sectors.
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