Aminu Waziri Tambuwal, born on January 10, 1966, is the current Governor of Sokoto state. He attended Tambuwal Primary School, Tambuwal, Sokoto State, where he obtained his First School Leaving Certificate in 1979; and Government Teachers’ College, Dogon-Daji, where he obtained the Teachers Grade 11 Certificate in 1984. He then proceeded to Usman Dan Fodio University, Sokoto, where he studied Law, graduating with an LL.B. Hons degree in 1991. He completed his one-year compulsory legal studies at the Nigerian Law School, Lagos, obtained his BL and was called to the Bar in 1992.
Besides his law degree, Aminu Tambuwal has also attended several courses abroad. He has been a very active member of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), over the years. Tambuwal started learning the legislative ropes from 1999 to 2000, while working as Personal Assistant on Legislative Affairs to Senator Abdullahi Wali, who was then the Senate Leader. In 2003, he decided to run for a legislative seat as representative of the Kebbe/Tambuwal Federal Constituency and was elected into the House of Representatives on the platform of the All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP).
Few months to the 2007 general elections, he defected to the PDP. Upon his re-election to the House, he was elevated to the position of Deputy Chief Whip. On 28 October 2014, Tambuwal formally defected from the ruling PDP to the opposition APC. In 2015, Tambuwal contested and won the Governorship election in Sokoto State.
Governor Tambuwal’s achievements so far include –
The training of 140 fish farmers, made up of mostly women and pensioners, supported with grants and starter-packs of tanks, fish feeds and fish seeds, free of charge; the training of 300 Sokoto indigenes free of charge by Henan University of Technology via a partnership with the Umaru Ali Shinkafi Polytechnic, Sokoto, on grain/food security; engaging of 1000 farmers for the 2017 dry season farming with 500 hectares committed to the project as a pilot scheme; the resuscitation of Kware Irrigation Scheme, which was abandoned for nearly 90 years; the creation through IFAD partnership of 27,166 jobs between 2016 and this year, and the provision of 875 kilometers of access roads across the state.
In the mining, commerce, industries and investment promotion sectors –
N3,300,000,000 investments were attracted to Sokoto State in 2016 through the Niger Delta Power Holding Company for the expansion of critical infrastructure in the power sector; N250,000,000 new organic fertilizer plant constructed in the state in partnership with IML Nigeria Ltd; Under a PPP arrangement with Hijrah Ltd, a new Textile Factory is now under construction at Kalambaina. The project is reported to have reached 80 percent completion.
Other achievements include the establishment of Leather Industrial Cluster in Sokoto with the support of the United Nations Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO) as well as the recruitment of 60 geoscientists and supporting staff for the Ministry of Solid Minerals Development to strengthen the human capacity of the state.
