Abdulaziz Musa Yar'Adua (born 4 August 1964) is a Nigerian politician and retired military officer who is the senator representing Katsina Central senatorial district since 2023. He is a brother of former Nigerian President

Umaru Musa Yar'Adua Umaru Musa Yar'Adua (; 16 August 19515 May 2010) 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 M ...

and former de facto vice president General

Shehu Musa Yar'Adua Shehu Musa Yar'Adua (; 5 March 1943 – 8 December 1997) was a Nigerian general and politician who was the ''de facto'' vice president of Nigeria as Chief of Staff, Supreme Headquarters when Nigeria was under military rule from 1976 to 1979. H ...

. A retired

Nigerian Army The Nigerian Army (NA) is the land force of the Nigerian Armed Forces. It is the largest component of the Nigerian Armed Forces. The President of Nigeria is the Commander-in-Chief of the Nigerian Army, and its professional head is the Chie ...

lieutenant colonel, he served in the army from 1981 till his voluntary retirement in 2010, few months after the death of his elder brother.

Early life and education

Abdulaziz Musa Yar'Adua was born on 4 August 1964 in Katsina, to the family of then minister for Lagos Affairs, Musa Yar'Adua. He had his primary education at the Musa Yar'Adua Quranic Model Primary School, Katsina from 1970 to 1976, and his secondary education in the Nigerian Military School, Zaria from 1976 to 1981. He then attended the College of Advanced Studies, Zaria from 1981 to 1984 where he received a bachelor's degree in physics, and then the Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria where he received a bachelor's degree in science and technology in 1987. He then proceeded to the

Rochester Institute of Technology The Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) is a private university, private research university in Henrietta, New York, a suburb of Rochester, New York, Rochester. It was founded in 1829. It is one of only two institute of technology, institut ...

Henrietta, New York Henrietta is a Administrative divisions of New York#Town, town in Monroe County, New York, Monroe County, New York (state), New York, United States, and a suburb of the city of Rochester, New York, Rochester. The population of Henrietta was 47,09 ...

in 1991 where he bagged a master's degree in electrical engineering in 1993.

Military career

Yar'Adua started his military career as a soldier after graduating from the

Nigerian Military School The Nigerian Military School, Zaria, popularly known as (NMS), is a military boarding school in the Federal Republic of Nigeria, affiliated with the Armed Forces of Nigeria. History Boys Company It was founded as the Boys Company of Nigeria i ...

in 1981, he rose to the rank of Lance Corporal. He was granted Short Service Combatant Commission to the rank of second lieutenant on 22 September 1990. He later converted to Regular Combatant Commission on 16 March 1998. Yar'Adua served in the Nigerian Army Signals Corps. He attended several civil and military courses, seminars and workshops, some of which include Signals Young Officers Course, Infantry Young Officers Course, Junior Staff Course Harris Corporation Technical Training on RF HF and VHF Radios, Training on Satellite Communications, Management Training Course, Spectrum Management Training, Peace Keeping, Force Protection and Antiterrorism Training. He also held several military appointments ranging from staff, instruction to command positions. His last appointment was as Assistant Director of Records, Army Headquarters Abuja. He retired from service as a lieutenant colonel on 30 September 2010, after 29 years of military service.

Political career

Yar'Adua ventured into politics in 2010, he joined the

Congress for Progressive Change The Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) was a political party founded in Nigeria in 2009. In February 2013, the party merged with the Action Congress of Nigeria, the All Nigeria Peoples Party, and a faction of the All Progressives Grand Alli ...

(CPC) a political party formed in 2009 by former Nigerian head of state General

Muhammadu Buhari Muhammadu Buhari (born 17 December 1942) is a Nigerian politician who served as the president of Nigeria from 2015 to 2023. A retired Nigerian army major general, he was the military head of state of Nigeria from 31 December 1983 to 27 Augu ...

in preparation for the 2011 elections. After a successful merger between his party and other political parties to form the

All Progressives Congress The All Progressives Congress (APC) is one of the two major contemporary political parties in Nigeria, along with the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). Founded on 6 February 2013 from a merger of Nigeria's three largest opposition parties, t ...

(APC) in February 2013, he registered and became a member of the APC in

Katsina State Katsina State ( ; 𞤤𞤫𞤴𞤣𞤭 𞤳𞤢𞥁𞤭𞤲𞤢) is a state in the northwestern geopolitical zone of Nigeria. It is bordered to the west by Zamfara State, to the east by Kano and Jigawa states, and to the south by Kaduna St ...

in 2014. He contested the party primaries for the Katsina State gubernatorial seat in 2015 but lost to former house speaker Rt. Hon.

Aminu Bello Masari Aminu Bello Masari (born 29 May 1950) is a Nigerian politician who served as governor of Katsina State from 2015 to 2023. He was the Commissioner for works, housing and transport Katsina state from 1991 to 1993. He was the speaker of the Niger ...

. He contested for the

House of Representatives House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entities. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often ...

and the Katsina Central Senate position at different times, losing all at the party primaries. On 29 May 2022, Yar'Adua won the APC primary election for the Katsina Central Senatorial District, over former Senator Umaru Ibrahim Kurfi and incumbent Kabir Abdullahi Barkiya. He had previously lost the primary election in 2015 to Kurfi, and in 2019 to Barkiya. He scored 310 votes while Kurfi got 197 votes and Barkiya got 70 votes. On 27 February 2023, he was elected senator for the Katsina Central Senatorial District, in the

2023 Nigerian Senate election The 2023 Nigerian Senate elections were held on 25 February 2023 in all 109 senatorial districts where voters elected senators using first-past-the-post voting. The last regular senatorial elections for all districts were in 2019. 2023 Nigeria ...

, scoring 153,512 votes to defeat Aminu Sirajo of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) who scored 152,140.

Personal life

Yar'Adua is a younger brother of former

president of Nigeria The president of Nigeria, officially the president of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is the head of state and head of government of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. The president directs the executive branch of the Federal Government an ...

who died in office in 2010, and former Chief of Staff, Supreme Headquarters General

who died while imprisoned by the Abacha government in

Abakaliki Abakaliki is the capital city of Ebonyi State in southeastern Nigeria, located southeast of Enugu. The inhabitants are primarily members of the Igbo nation. It was the headquarters of the Ogoja province before the creation of the Southeast ...

in 1997. He is married with children.

Awards and honours

Military awards

Yar'Adua was awarded the Silver Jubilee Medal, Meritorious Service Star, Forces Service Star and the Nigerian Army Sport Personnel Medal

Traditional titles

Yar'adua holds the chieftaincy title of "Mutawallen Katsina", which was conferred upon him by the Emir of Katsina, Alhaji Abdulmumini Kabir Usman in November 2020. He inherited the title from his elder brother

who held the title till his death in 2010. The title was previously held by their father Musa Yar'Adua and grandfather Malam Umaru. He also holds the chieftaincy title of "Akijiogo I" of Ezeokwe Kingdom, Ibagwa Nike,

Enugu State Enugu () verbally pronounced as "Enụgwụ" by the Igbo indigenes is a state in the South-East geopolitical zone of Nigeria, bordered to the north by the states of Benue and Kogi, Ebonyi State to the east and southeast, Abia State to the so ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Yaradua, Abdulaziz Musa 1964 births Living people Nigerian Army officers Nigerian Muslims Nigerian Fula people Ahmadu Bello University alumni Rochester Institute of Technology alumni All Progressives Congress politicians People from Katsina

Abdulaziz Abdulaziz (; ; 8 February 18304 June 1876) was the sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 25 June 1861 to 30 May 1876, when he was overthrown in a government coup. He was a son of Sultan Mahmud II and succeeded his brother Abdulmejid I in 1861. Ab ...

Nigerian Military School alumni Politicians from Katsina Senators of the 10th National Assembly (Nigeria)