Because Senator Jibrin Barau is the most important political force in the North West, by Tayo Williams

“Senator Jibrin is a constant and stabilizing force in the Senate and beyond. It is blessed by the moral authority and the rare ability to put a problem in the national agenda that would not of course be there. Although it may not be the coverage or recognition of his legislative, political and social home, the president of the deputy Senate dominated the art of being related to the center and indispensable at home”.

The North -ovest, the most populous geopolitical area of ​​Nigeria with over 22 million recorded voters, is the coveted “bride” for all aspiring presidential elections.
According to the independent national electoral commission, Iner, three states of the Region – Kano, Kaduna and Katsina – are classified among the first 10 in the list of states with the largest number of registered voters. Kano State, number two on the list at the base of Lagos, has 5,921,370 registered voters. Kaduna and Katsina have 4,335,208 and 3,516,719 registered voters respectively. The closest is the South -ovest with about 18 million registered voters.

The gulf is, in fact, large and almost unassailable.

During the last presidential elections, Northwest gave President Bola Ahmed Tinubu 2.7 million votes, the highest for any region. Also in the south -ovest, the traditional political base of Tinubu could only thumb 2,279,407 votes. From the five states of the South -est, he obtained a miserable 127,605 votes and has not marked 25 percent in any of them. The 799,957 votes of the South-South contributed to nine percent to the total votes of the APC.

Although it is still at the beginning of the day, supporting the influence and popularity in the North -ovest will be fundamental for the survival of the APC in the next electoral cycle. Former president Muhammadu Buhari, a native of Katsina, is the singular most formidable political figure in the region. However, its legendary distance from the party policy is a deal. And after having served his two -terms presidency, he was “away from the crowd” of the party’s Nigerian politics. Although he still has a sequel to worship in the North, his reluctance to participate in any election will not help the party.

On the contrary, Nasir El-Romai, the immediate past governor of the state of Kaduna, would have been the natural successor of Buhari’s political leadership in the region. However, the Fracture El-Rufai left the Congress All Progressives, APC, for the Social Democratic Party. The state of Kano, with the largest number of votes recorded behind Lagos, is a large battlefield considering the popularity of the NNPP in LED Rabiu Kwankwas, which has inflicted significant damage to the APC in the last elections.

This is where Senator Barau Jibrin, vice -president of the Senate comes into play.

Senator Jibrin is the senator of the highest APC in the north-western region. A discreet force of nature with admirable charisma and eloquence, Barau was in the National Assembly from the dawn of the fourth republic starting from the member of the Chamber of Representatives who represents the good people of the Federal College of Tarauni of the State of Kano from 1999 to 2003.

A thoroughbred and successful accountant chaired the allocation committee and worked as a member of others. After his first legislative odyssey, Jibrin returned to his private practice, but not for a long time, since he was chosen to serve as president of Kano State Investment and Properties Ltd and, later, commissioner for science and technology. He is a member of the Foundation of the APC on which platform he contested and won the seat of the Senatorial District of the north of Kano in 2015. This is his third term as a senator, and was the only Senator of the APC in 2023 of Kano, since the other two seats were won by Nnpp, a testimony of his formidable political acumen and basic appeal. But for political opportunity, it would have been the president of the Senate.

Having won the north senator seat Kano three times, there is no opposite that Jbrin has excellent as legislator and, therefore, is well acquired to help the APC to recover Kano and provide the crucial leadership for the success of the party in the region. In fact, the president does not need to look for away who to drive the accusation in the north -ovest; This is a role that has naturally fallen on the womb of Senator Jibrin.

Cerebral and controversial without disputes, Senator Jibrin is a constant and stabilizing force in the Senate and beyond. It is blessed by the moral authority and the rare ability to put a problem in the national agenda that would not of course be there. Although he may not get the desired coverage or recognition for his legislative, political and social interventions, the vice president of the Senate has mastered the art of being relevant in the center and indispensable at home.

Assertive, but never abrasive, Jibrin is a man whose thought has often shown himself in front of the curve. It was the brain behind the Commission for the development of the North West to fill the gaps in infrastructure development in the region, which has now been replicated in other regions. He also supported and sponsored a bill to build the federal technology of the University of Education in Bichi, in the state of Kano, and the Federal Polytechnic Kabo, where his father was born.

While other politicians are engaged in an infinite race to accumulate wealth to eternally guarantee their obscene residence in their comfortable luxury life and privilege, Senator Jibrin strives to spread joy every day between kith and relatives and the next family needy on the block. The evidence of his extraordinary compassion and superior culture of philanthropy abound everywhere in the region both in education, agriculture, health and empowerment of young people. It’s there when people need him.

The senator of the ranking recognizes the role that fate has inadvertently put on him and played the part quite well by reaching the opposition politicians and convincing them that the APC needs it. Recently, he hosted a strategic meeting with the former secretary of the government of the State of Kano, dr. Abdullahi Baffa Bichi and other Stalwarts Nnpp, including the former commissioner for monitoring and evaluation of the project, Muhammad Diggol, in his residence in Abuja.

Jibrin said: “We had fruitful discussions with them on the development of our dear state and the country. The development of our state and the country is always at the top of our agenda. We will continue to collaborate with other parties interested in making our state and nation advance. Let’s do it together to improve the lots of our people.” For him, it is Kano and Nigeria, not for any selfish purpose.

In fact, there is no clear path for the size in politics. It requires a special type of rare talent in today’s politicians, but that Senator Jibrin embodies in large quantities. In order for the APC to make any progress in the north -ovest in the next general elections, above all, senator Jibrin would need the office.

*Williams is a media manager based in Lagos.