Abubakar Umar Tutare is a

Nigerian Nigerians or the Nigerian people are citizens of Nigeria or people with ancestry from Nigeria. The name Nigeria was taken from the Niger River running through the country. This name was allegedly coined in the late 19th century by British jour ...

politician who was elected Senator for the Taraba Central Senatorial District of

Taraba State ) , image_map = Nigeria - Taraba.svg , map_alt = , map_caption = Location of Taraba State in Nigeria , coordinates = , coor_pinpoint = , coordinates_footnotes = , ...

Nigeria Nigeria ( ), , ig, Naìjíríyà, yo, Nàìjíríà, pcm, Naijá , ff, Naajeeriya, kcg, Naijeriya officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf o ...

in the April 2011 general elections, running on the

People's Democratic Party People's Democratic Party or ''variant thereof'', could refer to: * People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan *People's Democratic Party (Belize) *People's Democratic Party (Bhutan) *People's Democratic Party (Chile) * People's Democratic Party (Dom ...

(PDP) platform.

Early political career

Tutare was a representative in the Taraba State House of Assembly for two terms. He was appointed commissioner for the Finance, Commerce and Works ministries of the state, and finally Secretary to the State Government (SSG). He was a contender to be PDP candidate for the Taraba Central senate seat in the April 2007 elections, but lost out to Dahiru Bako, who went on to be elected. In June 2010 it was reported that Tutare was being questioned by the

Economic and Financial Crimes Commission The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) is a Nigerian law enforcement agency that investigates financial crimes such as advance fee fraud (419 fraud) and money laundering. The EFCC was established in 2003, partially in response to pre ...

(EFCC) for alleged misappropriation of state government funds when he was commissioner of finance under governor

Jolly Nyame Jolly Tavoro Nyame (born 25 December 1955) in Zing Local Government Area of present-day Taraba State) was Governor of Taraba State in Nigeria from 29 May 1999 to 29 May 2007. He also served as governor of the state from January 1992 to November ...

. Later that month Tutare resigned from his position as SSG so he could compete in the senatorial election for Taraba Central.

Senator

Tutare won the January 2011 PDP primaries to be the party's candidate in the April 2011 elections and was accepted as candidate by the

Independent National Electoral Commission The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) was established in 1998 and is the electoral body which oversees elections in Nigeria. History Regulation and administration of elections The administration of democratic elections in Nige ...

(INEC). However, the PDP leadership decided to substitute the incumbent senator, Dahiru Bako, as their candidate. When the PDP called for a re-run of the primary, Tutare filed a suit against the party. The re-run was boycotted by many of the delegates. Bako was declared the winner. On 12 March 2011 Governor Danbaba Suntai visited Mutum Biyu, the headquarters of

Gassol Gassol is a Local Government Area in Taraba State, Nigeria. Its headquarters are in the town of Mutum Biyu (or Mutumbiyu or Mutum Mbiyu) on the A4 highway at. It has an area of 5,548 km and a population of 244,749 at the 2006 census. The ...

local government area, and tried to give Bako his flag to formally start his campaign. This led to clashes between supporters of the two factions in which hundreds of people were injured. The mood leading up to the elections was ugly, with allegations that state security forces were removing the posters of opposition candidates and throwing supporters of the opposition into jail. On 1 April 2011 a Federal High Court sitting in Yola declared that Tutare was the lawful candidate. The INEC declared Tutare the winner of the April elections with 126,165 votes, ahead of Abubakar Ahmed Rufi of the

Congress for Progressive Change The Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) was a political party founded in Nigeria in 2009 in preparation for the April 2011 elections. It was the 63rd political party to be founded in the country. In February 2013, the party merged with the A ...

(CPC) with 25,900 and Mustapha JH. Gambo of the

Action Congress of Nigeria The Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), formerly known as Action Congress (AC), was a Nigerian political party formed via the merger of a faction of Alliance for Democracy, the Justice Party, the Advance Congress of Democrats, and several othe ...

, ACN with 11,816. Following his election, in May 2011 Tutare declared that the state was rich in agricultural, mineral and tourist resources. He promised to deliver good roads, clean water and quality education and health care. He noted that none of the towns or villages in his senatorial district was connected to the national electricity grid. In June 2011 Tutare was implicated in an EFCC case against former governor

, in which Tutare allegedly assisted in a N1.3 billion fraud.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tutare, Abubakar Umar Living people Peoples Democratic Party members of the Senate (Nigeria) People from Taraba State 1965 births