“Seat of the Caliphate”
- Capital
- Sokoto
- Created
- 3 February 1976
- Population
- 6,391,000 2022 estimate
- LGAs
- 23
His Excellency
Ahmad Aliyu Sokoto
Executive Governor of Sokoto State
All Progressives Congress North-West
- In office since
- 29 May 2023
- Term
- 1st term
- Term ends
- May 2027
- Deputy
- Idris Muhammad Gobir
Biography
Ahmad Aliyu Sokoto (born 1 January 1970) is a Nigerian accountant and politician who has served as Governor of Sokoto State since 29 May 2023. He was born in Tudun Wada in Sokoto metropolis and trained in accounting and public administration at the Polytechnic of Sokoto State, Abdu Gusau Polytechnic and Usmanu Danfodiyo University, completing a doctorate in business administration at Nasarawa State University in 2023.
After a career in local government finance and two terms as a state commissioner, he was deputy governor of Sokoto State from 29 May 2015 until his resignation on 14 November 2018, a few months after Governor Aminu Tambuwal left the APC for the PDP. As the APC candidate he narrowly lost the 2019 governorship election to Tambuwal, and was later appointed the pioneer Executive Secretary of the Police Trust Fund.
Aliyu won the March 2023 governorship election as the APC candidate and was sworn in on 29 May 2023 with Idris Muhammad Gobir as deputy governor. His administration's programme is a nine-point 'SMART' agenda covering education, health, water, agriculture, security, youth empowerment, local government autonomy, religious affairs and the economy.
In 2026 Governor Aliyu endorsed Gobir to remain his running mate for the 2027 election.
Career before office
Ahmad Aliyu is an accountant who worked in local government finance in Sokoto State, including as deputy director of finance and supply in Sabon Birni Local Government (1996-1998), director of finance and supply in Kebbe Local Government, and chief accountant of the Local Government Service Commission (2004-2007). He served two terms as a state commissioner and was elected deputy governor of Sokoto State in 2015 alongside Aminu Waziri Tambuwal, resigning in November 2018 after Tambuwal's defection to the PDP. He was the APC governorship candidate in 2019, narrowly losing to Tambuwal, and was subsequently appointed the first Executive Secretary of the Nigeria Police Trust Fund.
Key initiatives in office
- Nine-point 'SMART' agenda across education, health, water, agriculture, security and the economy
- Procurement of over 130 patrol vehicles for security agencies operating against banditry
- Construction and asphalting of more than 30 township roads in Sokoto
- Housing estates under construction at Wajake, Gidan Salanke and Sokoto New City
- Renovation of primary, secondary and tertiary institutions and water-supply scheme upgrades
- Executing capital projects without commercial borrowing, according to the state government
Education
- Clerical Officers' Certificate (Accounts and Audit), Polytechnic of Sokoto State (1991)
- Professional Diploma in Public Accounts and Audit, Polytechnic of Sokoto State (1994)
- HND Local Government Studies, Abdu Gusau Polytechnic, Talata Mafara (1997)
- Postgraduate Diploma in Management and MBA, Usmanu Danfodiyo University, Sokoto (2000-2004)
- Doctorate in Business Administration, Nasarawa State University (2023)
Sokoto State at a glance
North-West
Other governors in the zone
Jigawa State
Umar Namadi
Kaduna State
Uba Sani
Kano State
Abba Kabir Yusuf
Katsina State