The Kaduna State Governor, Malam Nasir El-Rufai has appointed Muhammad Sani Abdullah, the immediate past Commissioner for Planning and Budget, as his new Chief of Staff. This was contained in a Press Statement signed by Samuel Aruwan, Commissioner of Internal Security and Home Affairs.
In the Statement, the Governor, also approved the appointment of seven other officials, including new heads for the State Primary Health Care Development Agency (SPHCDA) and the State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA).
The Officials appointed are:
· Muhammad Sani Abdullahi – Chief of Staff.
· Bala Yunusa Mohammed – Deputy Chief of Staff, Legislature.
· Hamza Abubakar – Executive Secretary, SPHCDA.
· Ben Kure- Special Adviser,Political Matters.
· Dr. Omano Edigheji – Special Adviser, Research and Documentation.
· Maimuna Abubakar Zakari – Executive Secretary (SEMA)
· Dr. Habiba Ibrahim Mohammed –Special Asst. GIS.
· Jamilu Albani- DG, Interfaith matters.
Muhammed Sani Abdullah was former Commissioner for Planning and Budget in 2015 and he served in that capacity, throughout the first term of Malam Nasir El-Rufai. Prior to that, he was a Policy Adviser in the executive office of United Nations Secretary, Ban Ki-moon, in New York and a member of the Secretary General’s core team that designed the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). He also served in the past, as an Economist and Deputy National Program Manager, in Nigeria’s Presidency, where he supported the design and coordination of development interventions across 36 States, focusing on accelerating the country’s progress on the MDGs.
Dr. Hamza Abubakar, has vast experience in public health and had served as Technical Adviser to the Kaduna State Commissioner of Health. He was part of the team that developed and delivered the multi million- dollar integrated PHC MoU between Kaduna State, Aliko Dangote Foundation, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation,DFID, Global Fund and UNICEF.
Bala Yunusa Mohammed, is a former Minority Leader in Kaduna State House of Assembly. He was first appointed Deputy Chief of Staff, Legislative Liaison in 2015 while Ben Kure, was the immediate past Executive Secretary of the State Emergency Management Agency, to which he injected vibrancy responsiveness.
Mrs. Maimunat Asabe Abubakar who studied Nursing and Mid Wifery at St. Louis Hospital in 1983 retired as Director of Environmental Health in the FCT, while Dr. Omano Edigheji, holds a Phd in Political Science, from the Norwegian University of Science and Technology. He was also a member of the Kaduna State Transition Committee in 2019 and 2015.
In addition Dr. Habiba Ibrahim Mohammed won the 2019 award as the best PhD in Geo-informatics from the Universiti Teknologi in Malaysia, where she also earned a Masters degree. She has worked as a Geospatial and Environmental Analyst
