Tuesday, April 24, 2007


Umaru Musa Yar'Adua (born 1951 in Katsina) is the President-elect of Nigeria. He has served as governor of Katsina State in northern Nigeria since May 29, 1999. He won the Nigerian general election of 2007 on April 21 and is due to be sworn in on May 29. He is a member of the ruling People's Democratic Party (PDP) and is married to Turai Umaru Yar’adua.

Yar'Adua was born into an aristocratic Katsina family; his father, a former minister for Lagos during the First Republic, was also the Mutawallen of Katsina.
He started his education at Rafukka Primary School in 1958, and moved to Dutsinma Boarding Primary School in 1962. He attended Government College, Keffi, from 1965 until 1969, and received his Higher School Certificate from Barewa College in 1971.
Yar'Adua attended Ahmadu Bello University in Zaria twice, once from 1972 to 1975, and once from 1978 to 1980. He left the first time with a B.Sc Education/Chemistry and the second time having gained an M.Sc Degree in Analytical Chemistry
During the second republic, he was a member of the leftist People's Redemption Party, while his father was briefly the National Vice chairman of the National Party of Nigeria. He contested the governorship election of Katsina state under the banner of the Social Democratic Party, but lost to Saidu Barda, an ally of President Ibrahim Babangida. In 1999, he ran for the same position and won.


On December 16–17, 2006, Yar'Adua was chosen as the presidential candidate of the ruling PDP for the April 2007 election, receiving 3,024 votes from party delegates; his closest rival, Rochas Okorocha, received only 372 votes. Yar'Adua's success in the primary was attributed to the support of incumbent President Olusegun Obasanjo; at the time of his nomination he was an obscure figure on the national stage, and has been described as a "puppet" of Obasanjo who could not have won the nomination under fair circumstances. Shortly after winning the nomination, Yar'Adua chose Goodluck Jonathan, governor of Bayelsa State, as his vice-presidential candidate.
Another view of the support he received from President Obasanjo is that he is one of few serving governors with a spotless record, devoid of any suspicions or charges of corruption.


He also belongs to the People's Democratic Movement (PDM) - a powerful political block founded by his late brother, Shehu Musa Yar'Adua.
Yar'Adua, who suffers from a kidney condition, challenged his critics to a game of squash in an endeavor to end speculations about his health. On March 6, 2007 he was flown to Germany for medical reasons, further fomenting rumors about his health. His spokesperson said this was due to stress and quoted Yar'Adua as saying he was fine and would soon be back to campaigning. Another report, which was rejected by Yar'Adua's spokesperson, claims that Yar'Adua collapsed after suffering a possible heart attack.


In the presidential election, held on April 21, 2007, Yar'Adua won with 70% of the vote (24.6 million votes), according to official results released on April 23. The election was highly controversial; it was strongly criticized by observers, and the two primary opposition candidates, Muhammadu Buhari and Atiku Abubakar, rejected the results, considering it rigged in Yar'Adua's favor.


Goodluck Ebele Jonathan (b. 1957) is a Nigerian politician who has been governor of Bayelsa State since 9 December 2005. He is also the Vice President Elect of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. He is a member of the ruling People's Democratic Party (PDP).
Jonathan replaced Diepreye Alamieyeseigha, who was impeached by the Bayelsa State Assembly after being charged with money laundering in the United Kingdom. He was previously the deputy governor of the State. Recently, his wife was indicted by the Nation's anti-crime agency, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), for money laundering related offences. In December 2006, Jonathan was selected as vice presidential running mate to Umaru Yar'Adua for the ruling PDP presidential ticket in the elections planned for April 2007. On April 20, shortly before the election, a militant attack in Bayelsa State occurred that was described by police as an assassination attempt against Jonathan.
He holds a Bachelor of Science (B.Sc.) Honours in Zoology with a Second class (HONS) Upper division, an M.Sc. in Hydrobiology/Fisheries biology and Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) in Zoology from University of Port Harcourt respectively

...info courtesy Wikipedia

11 comments:

IJEOMA said...

lets cross our fingers

Zaynnah Magazine said...

Thanks for this info Nyemoni.

One hopes that it's now onwards and upwards for Nigeria!

Anonymous said...

I think Yar'adua will be good for us.the man hsa integrity.lets all give him a chance.

Anonymous said...

It's not going to be easy to change an entire culture of corruption.

Beyond said...

i hope the new government will make a change.
Thanks for the info nyemoni.

Chxta said...

@ 42, your head is properly screwed on...

Chxta said...

In the meantime Madam when did you become a ManScum fan? X-(

Zoe Believer said...

Thanks for the info. We are all eagerly watching and expecting change. Have a blessed week

♥♫♪nyemoni♫♪♥ said...

h@ ijeoma, yeah, lets coss em....
@ april, you're welcome... I hope so too!
@ linda.. I do hope he will be good for us... only time will tell...
@ forty_two.. I know it's going to be a tough call, but we can only try..
@ beyond, you're welome o..
@ Chxta don't try me o! Man United for life... and ever since my undergrad days...
@ believer, change must come! Whether they want it or not... I only hope it's positive change.. have a blessed year! ;-)

Uzo said...

Well at least they have lots of degrees between them

♥♫♪nyemoni♫♪♥ said...

Uzo, you are funny for real...

 

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