“Jewel in the Savannah”
- Capital
- Gombe
- Created
- 1 October 1996
- Population
- 3,960,100 2022 estimate
- LGAs
- 11
His Excellency
Muhammadu Inuwa Yahaya
Executive Governor of Gombe State
Chairman, NNGF
All Progressives Congress North-East
- In office since
- 29 May 2019
- Term
- 2nd term
- Term ends
- May 2027
- Deputy
- Manassah Daniel Jatau
Biography
Muhammadu Inuwa Yahaya (born 9 October 1961) is a Nigerian accountant, businessman and politician who has served as Governor of Gombe State since 29 May 2019. Born in Jekadafari, Gombe, he studied accounting at Ahmadu Bello University and is a member of several professional bodies including ANAN and the Chartered Institute of Taxation of Nigeria.
After serving as state Commissioner for Finance and contesting unsuccessfully in 2015, he won the 2019 governorship election on the APC platform with 364,179 votes and was re-elected in 2023. His administration is associated with the Network 11-100 rural and urban roads programme, the Gombe Industrial Park, the 'Gombe Goes Green' afforestation drive and business-environment reforms.
Yahaya was unanimously elected Chairman of the Northern States Governors' Forum by the 19 northern governors, succeeding Plateau's Simon Lalong with effect from 29 May 2023. As chairman he has led the forum's push for state police, a Northern States Security Trust Fund and a permanent secretariat in Kaduna. His second and final term as governor ends in May 2027.
Career before office
Yahaya began his career as a principal accountant with the Bauchi State Investment and Property Development Company (1984–1985) and later ran private businesses, including as managing director of A.Y.U Civil Engineering Company (1993–1999). In 2003 Governor Danjuma Goje appointed him Gombe State Commissioner for Finance and Economic Development. He was the APC governorship candidate in 2015.
Key initiatives in office
- Network 11-100 roads programme, reported to have delivered over 900 km of rural and urban roads across the 11 LGAs
- Gombe Industrial Park on about 1,000 hectares linked to the Dadin Kowa hydropower station
- Ranked first on the PEBEC sub-national ease of doing business index in 2021 and 2022
- Gombe Goes Green afforestation programme
- Gombe Geographic Information System (GOGIS) digital land administration
- As NSGF chairman, establishment of the forum's secretariat in Kaduna (commissioned July 2026)
Education
- Government Science Secondary School, Gombe
- BSc Accounting, Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria (1983)
Gombe State at a glance
North-East
Other governors in the zone
Adamawa State
Ahmadu Umaru Fintiri
Bauchi State
Bala Abdulkadir Mohammed
Borno State
Babagana Umara Zulum
Taraba State