75 Notable alumni of Ahmadu Bello University

Lucy Jumeyi Ogbadu // is a Nigerian microbiologist and served as the Director General/CEO of the National Biotechnology Development Agency (NABDA), a research agency under the Nigerian Ministry of Science & Technology until the expiration of her tenure in 2018.

Adamu Abu Kasim is a Nigerian botanist and professor of science. He was appointed as vice chancellor of Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida University, Lapai by Abubakar Sani Bello, assumed office in December 2019.

Vivian N. R. Okeke is a Nigerian former diplomat. She was Ambassador to Austria, Slovakia, and international bodies based in Vienna.

Abubakar ibn Umar Garba Abba Kiyari el-KanemiListen is the shehu of the Borno Emirate, a traditional state in Nigeria. He is the son of Umar ibn Abubakar Garbai al-Kanemi (shehu in 1968–1974) and the grandson of Abubakar Garbai (shehu in 1900 and 1901–1922).

Ibrahim Khalil Umar was a Nigerian scientist and university administrator. He was vice-chancellor of Bayero University, Kano, Nigeria from 1979 to 1986. He held a B.Sc. in physics and mathematics from Ahmadu Bello University in Zaria, Nigeria, a M.Sc. in physics from Northern Illinois University, USA and a Ph.D. in physics at the University of East Anglia, United Kingdom. In...

Mike Okibe Onoja listen is a Nigerian businessman, Former Defacto Minister of Defence 1993-1999, federal republic of Nigeria and a public administrator from Ado LGA, Benue state. He also holds chieftaincy title as the Akanaba K'Idoma.

Farida Mohammad Kabir is a Nigerian epidemiologist, software developer, and technology entrepreneur. She is the team lead for Google Women TechMakers and co-organizer for Google Developer Group, Abuja. She is also the founder/CEO of OTRAC, a health technology company that develops enterprise software systems for the healthcare sector in Nigeria.

Abdulkareem Baba Aminu is a Nigerian journalist, cartoonist, comicbook artist and retailer, painter, writer, poet and culture critic.

Simon AjibolaListen became the Senator for the Kwara South Senatorial District of Kwara State in June 2004 and was reelected in 2007. He is a member of the People's Democratic Party (PDP).

Lucy Surhyel Newman is an international consultant, policy advisor and author.

Stephen Orise Oru is a Nigerian politician. He is a former Minister of Niger Delta Affairs of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

Abdalla Uba Adamu is a Nigerian academic, educator, publisher, filmmaker, ethnomusicologist, media scholar and former vice-chancellor of National Open University of Nigeria. He hold double professorships in Science Education (1997) and Media and Cultural Communication (2012).

Afakriya Aduwa GadzamaListen mni OFR is a Nigerian security officer who is the current Chairman of the National Institute for Security Studies. He previously served as Director General of the State Security Service (SSS) under President Umaru Yar'Adua from August 2007 until September 2010.

Mohammed Sani Musa ListenCON is a politician and senator representing the Niger East Senatorial District of Niger State at the Nigerian National Assembly.

Aliyu Sabi Abdullahi CON is a Nigerian veterinary surgeon and politician who is the current minister of state for agriculture and food security. He served as the senator representing Niger North Senatorial District from 2015 to 2023, at the 8th and 9th National Assembly. He was the deputy chief whip at the 9th National Assembly.

Emmanuel Dangana Ocheja listen is a Nigerian Senator who represented Kogi East senatorial district in the National Assembly, and a member of the All Progressives Congress.

Ahmed Tijjani MoraListen is a Nigerian pharmacist, academic, former Registrar and now Chairman of the Governing Council of Pharmacy Council of Nigeria. He is the National President, Ahmadu Bello University Alumni Association. He was elected President of the Alumni Association in August 2015 at the Annual General Assembly (AGA) of the association. The assembly was attended by delegates from over...

Magaji Muhammed Listen headed the Nigerian Federal Ministry of Internal Affairs until the June 2006, when he resigned to pursue a gubernatorial ambition, and he was succeeded by Oluyemi Adeniji. He is also a former Minister of Industries.

Patricia Naomi Akwashiki is a Nigerian politician who served as a senator representing Nasarawa North senatorial district in the Nigerian Senate from 2007 to 2011. She is a member of the People's Democratic Party (PDP).

Ayesha Imam is a Nigerian born human rights activist. She is a former Chief of the Culture, Gender and Human Rights department of the United Nations Population Fund and a founding member and pioneer national coordinating secretary of Women in Nigeria. She later became the coordinator of a BAOBAB for Women's Human Rights, a human rights advocacy group. From April...

Usman Umar Kibiya OON is the Sarkin Kibiya of Kibiya Local Government Area of Kano State. He was turbaned on 26 May 2007 following the death of Late Sarkin Kibiya Alh Ado Abdullahi Kibiya.

Sarah Nnadzwa Jibril is a Nigerian politician, psychologist, social reform proponent, and philanthropist. She is known for serving as the special adviser to President Goodluck Jonathan on ethics and moral values and for her advocacy of the emancipation and empowerment of Nigerian women and children. Jibril is Nigeria's first female presidential candidate both at the primaries and main elections, having...

Dele JegedeListen is a Nigerian-American painter, art historian, cartoonist, curator, art critic, art administrator, and teacher. Jegede was a Senior Post-Doctoral Fellow at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, DC, (1995). He taught at Spelman College, Atlanta as Visiting Fulbright Scholar (1987–1988), when he curated the exhibition, Art By Metamorphosis. Listed in Kelly and Stanley's "Nigerian Artists: A Who's Who &...

Suraj Alao Abdurrahmanlisten CON, was a Nigerian Army general who served as the Command Officer in Charge of the Armed Forces of Liberia, with former Liberian president Ellen Johnson Sirleaf as the Commander-in-Chief. According to then President Johnson Sirleaf, General Abdurrahman "was an exceedingly exceptional gentleman officer whose contributions lifted the Armed Forces of Liberia to professional greatness and emplace...

Yahaya Abubakar Abdullahi Listen CON is a Nigerian politician and an associate professor. He is the Senator representing Kebbi North Senatorial District of Kebbi State at the 9th National Assembly. He was Senate Majority Leader of the Nigerian 9th National Assembly.

Mahmud Yayale Ahmed, CFR is a Nigerian civil servant and politician who served as Defence Minister of Nigeria.

Abdul Ahmed Ningi was a Deputy Majority Leader of the Nigerian Senate. A member of People's Democratic Party (PDP), he served as a Senator representing Bauchi central senatorial district from 2011 to 2015. Bauchi Central senatorial zone includes the local government areas of Danbam, Darazo, Ganjuwa, Misau, Ningi, and Warji.

Andrew Laah YakubuListen is a former Group Managing Director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation. He was given the appointment by President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan in 2012. He and the management team were relieved of their appointments to strengthen the on-going reforms in NNPC by ex-President Goodluck Jonathan in July 2014 and Joseph Dawha was named as his successor in...

Audu Innocent Ogbeh OFR was a Nigerian farmer, playwright and politician who served as the minister of agriculture and rural development from 2015 to 2019. He was chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) from 2001 until January 2005. He served as the minister of communications in the Nigerian Second Republic from 1982 to 1983.

Ahmed Nuhu BamalliListen CFR is a Nigerian lawyer, banker and diplomat. He is the former Nigerian ambassador to Thailand with concurrent accreditation to Myanmar, and the current 19th Fulani Emir of Zazzau, a Nigerian traditional state with headquarters in Zaria, Kaduna State, Nigeria. He is the first Emir from the Mallawa ruling house to be enthroned in a century after...

Shamsuddeen Usman, CON, OFR is a Nigerian economist, banker, technocrat and public servant. He is currently the CEO of SUSMAN & Associates, an economic, financial and management consulting firm headquartered in Nigeria. He was the Finance Minister of Nigeria between June 2007 and January 2009 and also served as the Minister of National Planning from January 2009 to September 2013....

Chief Tom Ikimi is a Nigerian politician and architect who served as minister of foreign affairs from 1995 to 1998. He was appointed chairman of ECOWAS Council of Ministers and ECOWAS Committee of Nine on Liberia (C-9) on 26 July 1996. He has also served as chairman of the defunct National Republican Convention (NRC) and was a founding member of...

Elnathan John is a Nigerian novelist, satirist and lawyer whose stories have twice been shortlisted for the Caine Prize for African Writing.

Ola Sa'ad IbrahimListen DSS, psc, rcds, fwc is a retired Nigerian Navy admiral and former Chief of the Defence Staff of the Nigerian Armed Forces.

Mohammed Sanusi Daggash is a Nigerian architect, economist and politician who was elected as a member of the Federal House of Representatives in 1999, and became Senator for Borno North (Borno State) in 2003. President Umaru Yar'Adua appointed him minister for the National Planning Commission of Nigeria in July 2007, and relieved him of his post in October 2008. He...

Senator Usman Bayero Nafada is a former Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives of Nigeria representing Dukku/Nafada Federal Constituency of Gombe state, and a former senator for the Gombe North senatorial district in 2015 under the umbrella of the People's Democratic Party (PDP). He was the 2019 Peoples Democratic Party's gubernatorial candidate in Gombe State. Nafada holds different titles...

Patrick Ibrahim Yakowa Listen was a Nigerian politician who served as governor of Kaduna State from 2010 to 2012. He was appointed deputy governor of Kaduna State in July 2005, following the death of Stephen Shekari and was elected in 2007. He was sworn in as governor on 20 May 2010, replacing governor Namadi Sambo who had been sworn in...

Haruna Abdullahi, known professionally as DJ AB, is a Nigerian rapper, singer, songwriter and record producer.

Ibrahim Gaidam is a Nigerian politician and the current Minister of Police Affairs since 2023. He previously served as senator representing the Yobe East senatorial district from 2019 to 2023, and as governor of Yobe State from 2009 to 2019.

Mohammed Namadi Sambo Listen GCON is a Nigerian politician who served as the vice president of Nigeria from 19 May 2010 to 29 May 2015. He previously served as governor of Kaduna State from 2007 to 2010.

Mallam Adamu AdamuListen CON is a Nigerian accountant, journalist and politician who served as the minister of Education from 2015 to 2023.

Nasir Ahmad el-Rufai CON is a Nigerian politician who served as the governor of Kaduna State from 2015 to 2023. A member of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) since November 2025 after his defection from the All Progressives Congress (APC) which he was one of the founding member, and served as the minister of the Federal Capital Territory from 2003...

Ibrahim Hassan Dankwambo is a Nigerian politician who has served as senator for Gombe North since 2023. He previously served as governor of Gombe State from 2011 to 2019. He is a former Accountant-General of the Federation.

Turai Umar Musa Yar'Adua Listen is the widow of the former Nigerian president and former Katsina State Governor, Umaru Musa Yar'Adua. She was the First Lady of Nigeria from 2007 until the death of her husband on 5 May 2010.

Bruce Obomeyoma Onobrakpeya is a Nigerian printmaker, painter and sculptor. He has exhibited at the Tate Modern in London, the National Museum of African Art of the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C., and the Malmö Konsthall in Malmö, Sweden. The National Gallery of Modern Art, Lagos, has an exhibit of colourful abstract canvases by Onobrakpeya, and his works were found...

Mohammed Danjuma Goje was a former Governor of Gombe State, Nigeria under the platform of the People's Democratic Party (PDP), taking office on 29 May 2003 during the 2003 Gombe State gubernatorial election. He is now a member of the All Progressives Congress (APC).

Kabiru Ibrahim Gayapronunciation is a Nigerian politician who has served in the Senate of Nigeria since 2007 representing the Kano South constituency of Kano State. He is a member of the ruling All Progressive Congress (APC).

Shehu IdrisListen was a Nigerian teacher who served as the 18th Emir of Zazzau, a Nigerian traditional state headquartered in Zaria. He also served as chairman of Zazzau Emirate Council and Kaduna State Council of Chiefs. A member of the Fula people, he ascended the throne on 8 February 1975 following the demise of Alhaji Muhammadu Aminu, his predecessor. Idris...

Muhammad Inuwa Yahaya is a Nigerian businessman and politician who has served as the governor of Gombe State since 2019.

Jerry Gana is a Nigerian scholar, politician, and former senator of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, serving briefly in 1983 before becoming Director for the Directorate of Food, Roads and Infrastructure. He was later appointed Director of the Mass Mobilization for Social Justice and Economic Recovery (MAMSER) under Ibrahim Babangida, then Minister of Agriculture and Natural Resources in the Interim...

Ibrahim Shehu Shema; born 22 September 1957) is a Nigerian lawyer and politician who was elected as a Governor of the north western State of Katsina during the 2007 general elections.

Ghali Umar Na'Abba CFR was a Nigerian politician who served as the 8th Speaker of the House of Representatives of Nigeria from 1999 to 2003.

Nuhu Ribadu mni is a Nigerian politician, barrister and retired police officer who is currently serving as the National Security Adviser to Nigerian President Bola Tinubu.

Atiku Abubakar GCON is a Nigerian politician and businessman who served as the vice president of Nigeria from 1999 to 2007 during the presidency of Olusegun Obasanjo. He ran for the office of governor of Adamawa State in 1990 and 1996 unsuccessfully, but won in 1998. Before he was sworn in, he was selected as running mate to former military...

Umaru Musa Yar'Adua GCFR was a Nigerian politician who served as the president of Nigeria from 2007 until his death in May 2010. He won the Nigerian presidential election held on 21 April 2007, and was sworn in on 29 May 2007.

Muhammadu Sanusi II, CON, known by the religious title Khalifa Sanusi II (Ajami: خليفة السنوسي), is the spiritual leader (khalifa) of the Tijanniyah Sufi order in Nigeria and the emir (Sarki) of the ancient city-state of Kano. He is a member of the Dabo dynasty and the grandson of Muhammadu Sanusi I. He succeeded his great-uncle Ado Bayero to the...

Ibraheem Yaqoub El-Zakzaky pronunciation is a Nigerian religious leader. An outspoken and prominent Shia leader in Nigeria, he has been imprisoned several times for what he sees as injustice, especially the system of corruption in his country. Zakzaky claims that only Islam can offer solution to the complex socio-political problems facing Nigeria, which has over the years stagnated the country's...

Yahaya Adoza Bello CON is a Nigerian businessman, politician. He served as the governor of Kogi State from 2016 to 2024. A member of the All Progressives Congress, Bello was the youngest governor in Nigeria throughout his term in office.

Mohammed Sanusi Barkindo pronunciation was a Nigerian politician. From 1 August 2016 until his death, he was the secretary general of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries. He helped to create the OPEC+ alliance between OPEC members and other oil-producing countries.

Tijjani Muhammad-Bande GCON OFR is a Nigerian diplomat, academic and political scientist who was the president of the United Nations General Assembly 74th session from 17 September 2019 to 15 September 2020. He previously served as vice president of the 71st session from September 2016 to September 2017. He served as Nigeria's Permanent Representative to the United Nations from 2017...

Sadiya Umar Farouq Listen is a Nigerian politician who served as the Pioneer Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development.

Abdullahi Umar GandujeListen OFR is the board chairman FAAN also is a Nigerian politician who served as the governor of Kano State from 2015 to 2023. He previously served as Rabiu Kwankwaso's deputy governor twice, from 1999 to 2003 and from 2011 to 2015. He is a member and former national chairman of the ruling Party All Progressives Congress (APC)...

Esther Ibanga is a Nigerian pastor and founder of the "Women Without Walls Initiative". She won the 32nd Niwano Peace Prize for promoting peace among people of different ethnic groups and religions in Jos, Nigeria.

Sarah Reng Ochekpe is a Nigerian Politician from Plateau State. She was the Minister of Water Resources from 2011 to 2015.

Salisu Abubakar Maikasuwa is a Nigerian clerk who has served as the Clerk of the National Assembly of Nigeria.

Sunday Akin Darelisten CON is a Nigerian journalist who served as the Nigerian Minister of Youth & Sports from 2019 to 2023. He previously held the position of Executive Commissioner, Stakeholder Management at the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), having been appointed by President Muhammadu Buhari in August 2016.

Zainab Shamsuna Ahmed CON is a Nigerian accountant and politician who served as the minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning of Nigeria from 2019 to 2023. She previously served as the minister of finance from 2018 to 2019, and as the minister of State for Budget and National Planning from 2015 to 2018. In 2019, President Muhammadu Buhari brought...

Abdulmumin Jibrinpronunciation is a Nigerian politician, businessman, academic, and member of the Nigerian House of Representatives representing Kiru/Bebeji federal constituency of Kano State He was recently re-elected on the platform of the New Nigerian People Party. He served as the Federal Housing Authority's Executive Director of Research and Innovation Development from October 2021 until May 2022, under President Muhammadu Buhari's...

Dauda Lawal listen is a Nigerian banker and politician who is the governor of Zamfara state. He was elected under the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the 2023 Nigerian gubernatorial elections defeating the incumbent Governor Bello Matawalle of the APC.

John Olatunde Ayeni ListenCON is a Nigerian lawyer, investor and business magnate. He holds board positions on companies throughout Nigeria.

Hadiza Sabuwa Balarabe is a Nigerian politician and medical doctor who has served as the deputy governor of Kaduna State since 2019. She is the first female deputy governor of the state and was elected during the 2019 Nigerian gubernatorial elections held in March, under the platform of the ruling All Progressives Congress and re-elected in 2023.

Ahmad Ibrahim Lawan ListenGCON is a Nigerian politician and former lecturer who served as the 14th president of the Nigerian Senate from 2019 to 2023. He represents the Yobe North Senatorial District in the Senate as a member of the All Progressives Congress.

Aisha Halilu Buhari is a beauty therapist who served as the First Lady of Nigeria from 2015 to 2023.

Samuel Óghalé Oboh is a Canadian architect, manager, leader, former Vice President - Architecture at AECOM Canada Architects Ltd - a Fortune 500 Company and the 2015 President of the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada (RAIC). Sam Oboh (as he is commonly known) is the first Canadian of African descent to be elected as president of this Canadian Royal Institute...