Abdulmumin Jibrin

Early life and education

Abdulmumin Jibrin was born into the family of Alhaji Labaran Mohammed Jibrin and Hajia Amina Gambo. He had his early education in Kano before being moved to Kaduna and later Abuja where his parents lived at various times to further his study.

Abdulmumin attended Army Primary School Janguza, Kano (1983–1986) before moving to Command Children School Jaji, Kaduna (1986–1988). He had his secondary education at Science Secondary School Abaji, Abuja (1989–1992) and Bwari Secondary School, Abuja (1992–1994). He later proceeded for his higher education and obtained a bachelor's degree in political science at the University of Abuja, Nigeria in 1999, M.Sc in International Affairs and Diplomacy at Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, Nigeria in 2003 and PhD in International Relations at the University of Abuja Nigeria in 2009.

He also attended London Business School 2009-2009, Harvard Business School 2009-2010, International Business House, London 2009 and European Institute of Business Administration INSEAD France, 2009 where he graduated and obtained various certificates in Senior Executive Program (SEP68 LBS), Global Economy Crisis (LBS), Negotiation, Competitive Decision and Deal Process (HBS), Program for Leadership Development (PLD9 HBS), International oil Trading (IBH London) and Telecommunications Strategy and Marketing (INSEAD). He holds an MBA from the SBS – Swiss Business School, Zurich, Switzerland 2012-2014.

Career

Abdulmumin began his early professional career in media by working with the Century Research and Communication Limited under the Chairmanship of Badamasi Shu'aibu Burji and later in the construction industry. After a stint at the communications company and some experience under some building construction companies, he moved on to establish his own company, Green Forest Investment Ltd. in 2003 and rose to the position of General Manager of the company.

Jibrin He later became the Managing Director and subsequently Chairman/CEO Green Forest Group Limited, with subsidiaries in Energy, Property Development, Investment, Agriculture, Construction and Engineering. He was also Chairman (Nigeria) of Turkish Construction giant, TASYAPI between 2010 and 2011.

He taught International Relations at Nasarawa State University, Nigeria and authored publications in the field of International Relations viz- The new face of Nigeria's Foreign Policy, Nigeria's Role in Peace Keeping Operations in Africa. He is also a member of Nigeria-America and Nigeria-British Chambers of Commerce. He was Chairman Abuja branch of Nigeria-British Chamber of Commerce (NBCC) between 2010 – 2011.

Politics

Abdulmumin was first elected to the Nigerian National Assembly's House of Representatives representing Kiru/Bebeji Federal constituency in Kano State under the Peoples Democratic Party - P.D.P in 2011 before decamping to the newly formed political party in Nigeria, the All Progressives Congress (APC) in 2014 and was later re-elected into House of Representatives in 2015. He was Chairman House of Representatives Committee on Finance in 7th Assembly and Chaired House Committee on Appropriation in the 8th Assembly until his resignation in July 2016 under controversial circumstances. He was one of the frontline Members that supported Engr. Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso to contest in the Presidential primaries of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in 2014.

Abdulmumin commenced his political journey while serving as Coordinator of Support Groups and later Member of the PDP/ Obasanjo Presidential Campaign in 2002-2003. He later served as Programme Officer at the PDP Presidential Campaign Headquarters in 2007.

No sooner had Abdulmumin got elected into the House of Representative than he formed a group, called 7th Assembly Group, which was made up of mostly the newly elected first-time lawmakers. The aim of the group according to Abdulmumin, as quoted in a national newspaper, was to serve as a "platform for members-elect to establish acquaintance and cross fertilize ideas emanating from various constituencies for the overall interest of the country."

Abdulmumin was subsequently appointed Chairman Committee on Finance of the House of Representatives with oversight on the Federal Ministry of Finance and its Parastatals, Federal Revenue, Preparation of Revenue framework/Estimate for the Federal budgets, Sovereign Wealth Fund - SWIA, Tax Matters, Fiscal matters, Government investment in banks and Statutory Corporations and Agencies, Insurance and Insurance of Government properties and assets amongst others. Since his assumption of position as the head of the finance committee, Abdulmumin has been a vocal voice on national matters; a critic and appraiser of some government's policies and actions.

Abdulmumin was appointed by the House of Representatives as the head of a joint ad-hoc committee on Finance, Petroleum Upstream, Petroleum Downstream and Gas Resources to investigate an alleged indebtedness of NNPC to the federation account in response to the continuing outcry by Nigerians for increasing accountability on the part of their governments. The investigation conducted by the Abdulmumin Jibrin-led joint committee later revealed a non-remittance of the sum of N450 billion by the NNPC to the federation account in contravention of Section 162 (1) of the 1999 constitution.

Abdulmumin has also expressed discontentment on Nigeria's over-dependence on oil and gas revenue. He is therefore in the forefront of the call for an urgent need of diversification of Nigeria's economy. As a result of his experience as Chairman of the House Committee on Finance and a contribution to the country, he is embarking and funding a special research on comparative analysis of Foreign Direct Investment FDI in the Oil and Gas sector and Solid Minerals sector. The research will provide answers to why there exist billions of dollars of FDI in the Oil and Gas sector and practically non in the Solid mineral sector despite its huge potentials. He has sent in a part-time PhD application to several Universities home and abroad to take him in so that he can revert to the status of a student and conduct a thorough research on the subject. It will be his second PhD when he concludes that.

Apart from his position as the Chairman of House Committee on Finance, Abdulmumin has headed and co-chaired a number of parliamentary investigations and assignments which include but not limited to the following: investigation of independent revenue which deals with the internally generated revenue of corporations. Under Abdulmumin's leadership, the Finance Committee discovered billions of unremitted funds to the consolidated revenue fund and subsequently compelled the corporations to pay. The Committee on Finance under Abdulmumin further provided justification for the commencement of the Treasury Single Account policy (TSA) and the eventual and presentation of the budgets of some Statutory Agencies that runs into billions collectively from the Executive arm of government to the Legislature by President Muhammadu Buhari.

With the mandate of the House, Abdulmumin also led the Finance Committee to launch a comprehensive investigation into the Insurance industry and insurance of government asset and properties where wide-ranging discoveries were made bothering on issues of abuse of processes and existing laws. The Committee has commenced work to repeal and re-enact the existing insurance law. In the same vein, Abdulmumin proceeded to look into tax compliance and remittances by various sectors of the economy. Specifically, the Committee also commenced investigation of tax compliance by banks. This will review the role of the banks as tax collecting agents and tax-payers.

Abdulmumin has also co-chaired investigation on the planned liquidation of NITEL which used to be the largest telecommunication company in Nigeria, investigation on ports congestion, investigation on discretionary granting of waivers and other incentives by government for big companies, investigation into multi-billion naira housing fund and investigation on budget implementation among others.

Abdulmumin was also a member of the House committee on Foreign Affairs, Gas, Electoral Matters, Youths Development and Special Duties where he has contributed significantly in the works of these committees. Abdulmumin was the chair of the yearly joint committee that modifies the federal government Medium Term expenditure and Fiscal Strategy Paper (MTEF) which deals with all the macro-economic indices that serve as the fore-runner for Nigeria's national budget both between the period of 2011-2015.

In 2013, Abdulmumin was one of the members of the House of Representatives that led the first set of 37 Legislators that decamped from the ruling People's Democratic Party (PDP) to the main opposition party, All Progressive Party (APC). In March 2015, Abdulmumin contested and got re-elected to the House of Representatives by the people of his constituency Kiru/Bebeji Kano state, Nigeria. He was an aspirant for the Speakership of the House but later stepped down for Hon Yakubu Dogara, who went on to win, and emerged Speaker of the 8th Assembly. Speaker Dogara appointed Abdulmumin as the Chairman of the House of Representatives Committee on Appropriation. A position he held from 2015 until his resignation in 2016.

As Chairman Appropriation, Abdulmumin has oversight function over the Budget office and national budget, the appropriation of funds for execution of government programmes and projects. He also ensured that fiscal and budgetary policies of government are aligned with the annual budget estimates and interrogates the fiscal, financial and economic assumptions underpinning the total estimates of expenditure and receipts in the budget, the basic recommendations and budgetary policies of the President in the presentation of the budget, hold hearings where testimony is received from the Minister of Finance, the Minister of Planning and Budget, the Governor of Central Bank, the Chairman of the National Economic Intelligence Agency and any such other persons as the Committee may consider useful to its work, Coordinate, monitor and supervise the implementation of all Appropriation Acts after passage by the National Assembly, relating annual budget to rolling plans and Medium Term Expenditure Framework.

Also as Chairman of the Appropriations Committee, Abdulmumin is a member of the joint Committee that modifies the Medium Term Expenditure Framework and Fiscal Strategy Paper (MTEF/FSP) of the 2016 budget. He also guided the process as Chairman appropriation that led to the passage of the 2015 supplementary budget sent to the House by President Muhammadu Buhari. Abdulmumin is a member of Committees on Appropriations, Foreign Affairs, Sports, Intergovernmental Affairs, Electoral & Political Parties Matters, Ethics and Privileges and Youth Development.

Abdulmumin sponsored a bill for an Act to repeal the Infrastructure Concession Regulatory Commission (Establishment) Act, 2005 and enact the Public Private Partnership Regulatory Commission Act, 2016 to strengthen and enhance the supervisory role of the Commission and effectively position it in regulating the participation of the public and private sectors in enhancing construction, development, designing operation or maintenance of infrastructure or development projects of the Federal government through private partnership arrangements; and other matters related thereto (HB. 358)

In March 2012, Abdulmumin became the third Nigerian to be selected for participation at the prestigious France's International Visitor Leadership Program organised by the French Government through the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Over one thousand promising leaders have participated in the programme since its inception in 1989. Only nine percent of the participants were selected from Africa and only three from Nigeria. Abdulmumin used the opportunity of the programme to drum up attention to issues of development in Nigeria and emphasis on increasing collaboration between Nigeria and France.

Budget Padding Allegation

Abdulmumin Jibrin was the 8th Assembly's first Appropriation Committee Chairman appointed by the Dogara's led administration until his dismissal on Wednesday July 20, 2016 over N4 billion 2016 Budget Padding allegation and was replaced by Hon Mustapha Bala Dawaki, a member representing Dawakin Kudu/Warawa. Jibrin was suspected to have played a prominent role in the controversies that marred deliberation and passage of the 2016 budget.

The body of Principal Officers of the House of Representatives were said to have unanimously agreed on the dismissal of Jibrin in response to agitation by the majority of Members of the House of Representatives after they discovered that there was an abused on the 2016 budget by the dismissed Chairman.

Suspension from the National Assembly

Abdulmunin Jibrin was on Wednesday, September 28, 2016 suspended from the House of Representatives's Green Chamber for 180 Legislative days for allegedly breaching the practices and precedents of the House of Representatives and is also required to tender an apology to the House of Representatives before the expiration of his suspension.

Jibrin was subsequently barred from holding any authoritative position throughout the 8th Assembly.

Interests

Beyond politics and his business engagements, Abdulmumin has shown interest in philanthropy through which he instituted awards and yearly donation/lecture at the NYSC. He was the sole sponsor of his alma mater, University of Abuja re-union event. Abdulmumin has also provided needful equipment that would improve academic endeavours at the university and renovated some of the institution's academic buildings. He co-founded Laila foundation with his first wife Laila Ismail-Jibrin as a charity organisation dedicated to the less-privileged. In recognition of his passion for charity work, he was appointed into the board of Ayahay Foundation founded by his second wife Maryam Augie-Jibrin. He is a member of Rotary International and Paul Harris Fellow.

Awards

Abdulmumin has received several awards and honours for his meritorious achievements both in professional and public life. And he has also been inducted into different professional bodies for his sterling contributions to professional best practices in accordance with the global standards. In 2000, Abdulmumin was bestowed with the Award of Life Membership by the Students' Union Government, University of Abuja, Nigeria. The United Nations Global Peace Foundation conferred on Abdulmumin an award of Peace Ambassador in 2009. He was a recipient of the Icon of Hope Award by the African-Caribbean Society of the University of Reading in 2010. He was also honoured as a World Youth Ambassador by the Youth Federation for World Peace in the same year 2010.

In 2012, he was inducted as Fellow Chartered Institute of Finance and Control by Nigeria CIFN. Also in the same year, Abdulmumin received an Award of Excellence for Best House Committee Chair by the Chartered Insurance Institute of Nigeria (OSC). By November 2012, he was honoured with an award for Legislative Excellence by the 7th National Assembly Media Merit Award. In early 2013, Abdulmumin was accorded the Distinguished Award for Contribution to National Development by the Nigeria Conservation, UK. Later in 2013, he was awarded Certificate of Commendation for philanthropic Work by the Justice & Fairness Organisation, Kano State. And was honoured with the Most Outstanding National Committee Chair (Revenue Development) by the Disciples of Democracy in Frankfurt Germany in the same year 2013. In 2014 he was inducted as fellow of the Institute of Mass Communication & Information Management of Nigeria and fellow of the Institute of Corporate Administration of Nigeria. For his philanthropy milestone, Abdulmumin was a warded a Paul Harris Fellow in 2012. Abdulmumin Jibrin holds the traditional title of Jarman Bebeji, Kano.