Lawal Kaita

Lawal Kaita
Governor of Kaduna State
In office
October 1983 – December 1983
Preceded by Abba Musa Rimi
Succeeded by Usman Mu'azu
Personal details
Born 4 October 1932 (1932-10-04) (age 79)
Katsina, Nigeria

Lawal Kaita (born 4 October 1932) was elected on the National Party of Nigeria (NPN) platform as governor of Kaduna State, Nigeria, holding office between October and December 1983, when the Nigerian Second Republic ended with the coup that brought General Muhammadu Buhari to power. He continued to be an active and influential politician in the Nigerian Fourth Republic, and was one of the founders of the Action Congress (AC) party in September 2006.[1]

Contents

Background

Kaita was born on 4 October 1932 in Katsina in the far North of Nigeria.[2] He is a blood relative of President Umaru Musa Yar'Adua, and a member of royal family of Nagogo, traditional rulers of the Emirate of Katsina.[3][4] He attended Barewa College, Zaria (1946-1950). Later he studied at the London School of Economics (1971-1972). Returning to Nigeria, he joined the Kaduna State civil service. He was in turn Secretary to the State Water Board (1973-1975), Commissioner for Economic Planning (1975-1976) and Deputy Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Works of Kaduna State (1976-1977).[2]

Early political career

Kaita was appointed a Member of the Constituent Assembly (1977-1978) and became Special Assistant to President Shehu Shagari (1980-1982).[2] In 1979, he was narrowly defeated by Abdulkadir Balarabe Musa in the election for Governor of Kaduna State.[5] Kaita helped the NPN to impeach Musa in June 1981.[6] Kaita contested the emirship of Katsina in 1982 after the death of the late Emir Usman Nagogo.[1] He was returned as Governor of Kaduna State in the 1983 election, holding office briefly until the military coup in December that year.[6]

After General Shehu Musa Yar'Adua was jailed in 1995 by the Sani Abacha government, Kaita was appointed leader of Yar'Adua's Peoples Democratic Movement (PDM).[7] Kaita was a member of the Constitutional Conference (1994-1995).[2] He was a founding member of the People's Democratic Party PDP in 1998.[1]

Fourth Republic

The administration of President Olusegun Obasanjo which came to power in May 1999 appointed Kaita chairman of one of the lucrative parastatals in the Ministry of Transport.[6] In August 2001 he was engaged in a struggle for control of the PDM movement with the Minister of Works and Housing, Chief Tony Anenih.[7] In May 2002 he was president of the Nigerian polo association.[4] In June 2003 he was chairman of the Maritime Authority, a member of the board of trustees of the PDP, and was also a director of the SGBN Bank.[2]

Later Kaita left the PDP to join others in forming the Action Congress (AC) party in September 2006, the platform on which Vice President Atiku Abubakar launched his unsuccessful bid for the Presidency in 2007.[1] In the run-up to the elections the 74 year old Kaita was arrested by the State Security Services on charges that he had recruited and trained hooligans.[8] In March 2010 there were rumors that Kaita might be returning to the PDP following a meeting with the Katsina State Governor Ibrahim Shema and other PDP leaders.[9] In a newspaper interview in April 2010, Kaita said that as chairman of a conclave of Atiku Abubakar's associates, he expected Atiku to rejoin the PDP.[10] On 19 August 2010, Kaita was received back to the PDP by Governor Shema, in an event attended by 50,000 decampees from the Action Congress in Ingawa, Kusada and Kankiya local governments.[11]

References

  1. ^ a b c d Ademola Adeyemo (13 January 2009). "Where Are Second Republic Governors?". This Day. http://allafrica.com/stories/200901140197.html?page=2. Retrieved 2010-04-20. 
  2. ^ a b c d e "Those Behind SGBN Bank". ThisDay. 2003-06-19. http://www.thisdayonline.com/archive/2003/06/19/20030619ban02.html. Retrieved 2010-04-20. 
  3. ^ FEMI BABAFEMI (June 09, 2008). "I want Yar’Adua removed by Supreme Court – Lawal Kaita". Online Nigeria Daily News. http://nm.onlinenigeria.com/templates/?a=12377&z=5. Retrieved 2010-04-20. 
  4. ^ a b "In Katsina, Gladiators Jostle for Supremacy". ThisDay. 2002-05-09. http://www.thisdayonline.com/archive/2002/05/09/20020509pol05.html. Retrieved 2010-04-20. 
  5. ^ Nuruddeen M. Abdallah (8 March 2009). "How 'Borno Mafia' Blackmailed Sardauna From Confirming Emir Sanusi as Northern Region's Governor". Daily Trust. http://allafrica.com/stories/200903091369.html?viewall=1. Retrieved 2010-04-21. 
  6. ^ a b c "PDP's Men of Power". ThisDay. 2001-11-10. http://www.thisdayonline.com/archive/2001/11/10/20011110cov02.html. Retrieved 2010-04-21. 
  7. ^ a b Bature Umar (2010-08-19). "Anenih, Kaita Jostle for PDM's Leadership". ThisDay. http://www.thisdayonline.com/archive/2001/08/19/20010819news12.html. Retrieved 2010-04-21. 
  8. ^ Iyobosa Uwugiaren and Sule Lazarus (March 23, 2006). "Lawal Kaita faults SSS report". Daily Independent Online.. http://odili.net/news/source/2006/mar/23/608.html. Retrieved 2010-04-21. 
  9. ^ "Kaita Soon to Rejoin PDP, Say Sources". Daily Trust. 31 March 2010. http://allafrica.com/stories/201003310491.html. Retrieved 2010-04-21. 
  10. ^ ANDY ASEMOTA, Katsina (April 7, 2010). "Atiku under pressure • Govs want ex-VP in PDP –Lawal Kaita". Daily Sun. http://www.sunnewsonline.com/webpages/news/national/2010/apr/07/national-07-04-2010-003.htm. Retrieved 2010-04-21. 
  11. ^ Muazu Elazeh (20 August 2010). "Finally, Lawal Kaita, returns to PDP". Peole's Daily. http://www.peoplesdaily-online.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=12398:finally-lawal-kaita-returns-to-pdpfrom-muazu-elazeh-katsina&catid=64:politics-today&Itemid=110. Retrieved 2010-08-20. 
North Central State
Kaduna State
State governors in the Nigerian Second Republic (1979 - 1983)