Abdullahi Aliyu

Abdullahi Aliyu
Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Science and Technology
Personal details
Born (1957-01-28) 28 January 1957 (age 67)
Damau, Kubau LGA, Kaduna State
NationalityNigerian
EducationB. Engineering, M.Sc Mechanical engineering, Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, PhD Mechanical Engineering, Illinois Institute of Technology, Chicago, United States
OccupationCivil servant
ProfessionMechanical Engineer

Dr. Aliyu Abdullahi OON (born 28 January 1957)[1] is a Nigerian Civil servant who joined the Civil Service in August 1988 and became a Permanent Secretary in January 2001.[2] In 2003, he was appointed Permanent Secretary of the Federal Ministry of Science and Technology.[3] In July 2007, Abdullahi Aliyu said that he had received a presidential mandate to explore the use of nuclear energy in Nigeria for the generation of electricity.[4]

In March 2008, as the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Energy (Power Section), Abdullahi Aliyu testified before a panel investigating expenditures in the power sector in the previous eight years. Aliyu said that contracts had been awarded by the former minister of Power and Steel and the Presidency, and said that the civil service had not been involved in the contract awards and payments.[5]

In May 2009, he was suspended from office and arraigned by a High Court in Abuja over alleged fraud in the rural electrification contracts, along with Senator Nicholas Ugbane and 7 others. The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) said the accused had breached public trust and conspired among themselves to defraud the country.[6] The High Court ordered that the accused be remanded in prison custody until June 4, 2009 when it would decide on their bail requests.[7] He was granted bail, but in June 2009 was rearrested by the EFCC on fresh charges.[8] In November 2009, the EFCC preferred a fresh 130-count charge for defrauding the government of over N5.2bn. All of the accused pleaded "not guilty".[9] In December 2017, the Court of Appeal in Abuja discharged and acquitted Dr. Abdullahi Aliyu for the offences of conspiracy to commit criminal breach of trust and criminal breach of trust contrary to Section 97 (1) and Section 315 of the Penal Code ACT CAP. 532 LFN 1990.[10]

Background

Abdullahi Aliyu was born on 28 January 1957 in Damau, Kubau Local Government Area of Kaduna State. He attended Government College Kaduna from 1971 to 1975, then went on to Ahmadu Bello University (ABU), Zaria where he obtained a First Class Honours B. Engr in Mechanical Engineering; M.Sc in Mechanical Engineering and a PhD in Mechanical Engineering from Illinois Institute of Technology, Chicago, United States.[1]

Career

Aliyu lectured at Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria and the University of Zimbabwe, Harare, before joining the Raw Materials Research and Development Council (RMRDC), Abuja, in 1988. In 1994, he was appointed the Director-General and Chief Executive of RMRDC, where he succeeded in advising the Federal Government to ban the importation of two industrial raw materials in 1996, gypsum for cement production and barley malt for soft drink production and substituted them with locally sourced gypsum and sorghum malt. In August 1997, Abdullahi Aliyu was appointed the Pioneer Director-General and Chief Executive of the Family Economic Advancement Programme (FEAP).[11][12] He said the programme remains Nigeria's only hope in the big task of reducing poverty and minimising income disparities between the rich and the poor.[13] He was a visiting professor at Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University, Bauchi in 1998. In 2001, FEAP was transformed to National Poverty Eradication Programme (NAPEP) as a move to address poverty in Nigeria and related issues, where he served as a Federal Permanent Secretary. In 2007, Dr Aliyu was awarded for his services to the nation with the title of Officer of the Order of the Niger (OON) by former late President Umaru Musa Yar'Adua.

References

  1. ^ a b Admin (2019-09-05). "ALIYU, Dr. Abdullahi, OON, FNSE". Biographical Legacy and Research Foundation. Retrieved 2020-03-02.
  2. ^ "Permanent Secretaries". Office of the Head of Service of the Federation. Archived from the original on 2010-08-10. Retrieved 2009-12-20.
  3. ^ "Abdullahi Aliyu". AfDevInfo. Archived from the original on 2011-10-17. Retrieved 2009-12-21.
  4. ^ "Nigerian president says country needs nuclear energy". World Nuclear News. 27 July 2007. Archived from the original on 26 June 2010. Retrieved 21 December 2009.
  5. ^ John Abba-Ogbodo (March 14, 2008). "Ministry denies awarding 300 energy contracts". Guardian (Nigeria). Archived from the original on June 15, 2011. Retrieved 2009-12-21.
  6. ^ Funso Muraina (15 May 2009). "N6.2 Billion Scam - Ugbane, Elumelu, Eight Others Arraigned". ThisDay. Retrieved 2009-12-21.
  7. ^ From Lemmy Ughegbe (May 19, 2009). "Court remands Ugbane, Elumelu others in Kuje Prison". The Guardian. Retrieved 2009-12-21.[permanent dead link‍]
  8. ^ "EFCC Re-Arrests Elumelu, Aliyu on Fresh Corruption Charges". Channels TV. 5 June 2009. Retrieved 2009-12-21.[permanent dead link‍]
  9. ^ "Reps member, others face fresh charges". The Port Harcourt Telegraph. November 2, 2009. Archived from the original on 6 January 2010. Retrieved 2009-12-21.
  10. ^ "Economic and Financial Crimes Commission - EFCC - N5.2bn Fraud: Court Discharges Dr Abdullahi Aliyu, Jails Five REA Directors". efccnigeria.org. Retrieved 2019-06-21.
  11. ^ Aliyu, Abdullahi (1998). Family Economic Advancement Programme (FEAP) /by Abdullahi Aliyu. Nigeria: The Programme. OCLC 227530917.
  12. ^ Aliyu, Abdullahi (1997). Family economic advancement programme (FEAP) : scope and mandate /. [Nigeria]: Family Economic advancement programme (FEAP).
  13. ^ Ugbolue, Henry (24 May 1999). "Nigeria: 'FEAP Has Come A Long Way'". allAfrica.