Saidu Dansadau

Saidu Muhammed Dansadau
Senator for Zamfara Central
In office
29 May 1999 – 29 May 2007
Succeeded by Hassan Muhammed Gusau
Personal details
Born 20 June 1953
Zamfara State, Nigeria

Saidu Muhammed Dansadau (born 20 June 1953) was elected Senator for the Zamfara Central constituency of Zamfara State, Nigeria at the start of the Nigerian Fourth Republic, running on the All People's Party (APP) platform. He took office on 29 May 1999.[1] He was reelected in April 2003 on the All Nigeria People's Party platform for another four years.[2]

Birth and early career

Dansadau was born in June 1953. He obtained a B.Sc (Education) and a PGD (Public Administration), and worked as an educationalist.[3] He began medium, and later large-scale farming in 1977, and continued to stay involved in farming throughout his political career.[4] He was the Sokoto State Secretary of the National Party of Nigeria (NPN) from 1981 to 1983 during the Second Nigerian Republic.[3]

Senate career

After taking his seat in the Senate in June 1999, Dansadau was appointed to committees on Public Accounts, Health, Labour, Commerce (chairman), National Planning and Internal Affairs.[5] For several years he was Secretary-General of the Northern Senators’ Forum.[6] In March 2005 Dansadau called for the Senate President, Chief Adolphus Wabara, to resign since he had been implicated in the N55 million bribery scandal.[7] In April 2005 Wabara did finally resign after allegations were made that he and others took a $400,000 bribe from the education minister, Fabian Osuji.[8]

Dansadau was a strong opponent of allowing President Olusegun Obasanjo to run for a third term. As a member of the National Assembly Joint Committee of the Review of the Constitution, in February 2006 he said he would boycott a public hearing on the review of the 1999 Constitution, which would allow this change.[9] In April 2006, as Chairman of the Publicity Committee of the 2007 Movement he said that Nigeria would break up if the move to allow a third term succeeded.[10] He commended Vice-President Atiku Abubakar for speaking out against the proposal, and defended him from impeachment moves.[11]

Later career

Dansadau left the Senate in May 2007, and in October 2008 announced that he was resigning from the ANPP and from partisan politics in general.[12] Dansadau, who had previously been a large-scale former, became the promoter of the Mashalla Seed Firm in Gusau, Zamfara State.[13]

In 2010 Dansadau was appointed Chairman of a 12-person Committee on Repositioning Land Administration in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).[14] The committee was set up to verify all land allocations from 2007 and all mass housing allocations from 2004. The goal was to find and prevent multiple allocations, forgery and abuse of records at the Land Registry and the Abuja Geographic Information Systems.[15] Dansadau said that three former FCT Ministers, Nasir el-Rufai, Aliyu Modibbo Umar and Adamu Aliero had allocated 18,445 plots of land between 1 January 2007 and April, 2010. Over 70% had been carried out in the last five months of el-Rufai's administration.[16] Of these only 2.5% had actually been developed. He said multiple allocations, forgery and falsification of records were huge problems, as was illegal revocation of plots, blaming corrupt officials and chaotic procedures. He said the Land Use Allocation Committee was ineffective during the period under review.[17]

References

  1. ↑ "FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF NIGERIA LEGISLATIVE ELECTION OF 20 FEBRUARY AND 7 MARCH 1999". Psephos. Retrieved 2010-06-19.
  2. ↑ "Senators". Dawodu. Retrieved 2010-06-19.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 "Saidu Dansadau". AfDevInfo. Retrieved 2010-06-19.
  4. ↑ "NASS Has Performed Below Expectation – Dansadau". Daily Independent. Nov 28, 2009. Retrieved 2010-06-19.
  5. ↑ "Congressional Committees". Nigeria Congress. Retrieved 2010-06-19.
  6. ↑ MOHAMMED HARUNA. "Dansadau’s Cop-Out?". Gamji. Retrieved 2010-06-19.
  7. ↑ Sidi Garba (2005-03-29). "N55m Bribe: Wabara Must Resign – Dansadau". ThisDay. Retrieved 2010-06-19.
  8. ↑ "Adolphus Wabara and Alice Mobolaji Osomo unseated after corruption allegations". New African. 01-MAY-05. Retrieved 2009-10-06. Check date values in: |date= (help)
  9. ↑ Emmanuel Aziken (February 23, 2006). "Review: Senator Dansadau Vows to Boycott Hearing.". Vanguard. Retrieved 2010-06-19.
  10. ↑ Paul Mumeh, Adetutu Folasade-Koyi and Tunde Abatan (April 24, 2006). "Nigeria'll break up if Third Term succeeds Dansadau". Daily Independent Online. Retrieved 2010-06-19.
  11. ↑ John-Abba Ogbodo, Emmanuel Ande, Azimazi Momoh Jimoh (April 11, 2006). "How plot to impeach Atiku failed, by Rep". Online Nigeria. Retrieved 2010-06-19.
  12. ↑ Abdullahi Yahaya Bello and Suleiman M. Odapu (October 18, 2008). "Why I Resigned From ANPP - Dansadau.". Daily Trust. Retrieved 2010-06-19.
  13. ↑ Abubakar K. Mommoh (14 October 2008). "Northern Governors Should Get More Involved in Agriculture - Dansadau". Daily Trust. Retrieved 2010-06-19.
  14. ↑ Nasir Imam (9 June 2010). "On Dansadau Committee and Agis Cleansing". Daily Trust. Retrieved 2010-06-19.
  15. ↑ Catherine Agbo (17 June 2010). "Land Administration in Abuja - How Far Can FCT Minister Go?". Leadership. Retrieved 2010-06-19.
  16. ↑ Kingsley Nwezeh (7 June 2010). "'El-Rufai, Modibbo, Aliero Allocated 18, 445 Plots'". ThisDay. Retrieved 2010-06-19.
  17. ↑ Nasir Imam (7 June 2010). "6,000 Revoked FCT Land Allottees Await Alternatives -Dansadau Committee". Daily Trust. Retrieved 2010-06-19.