President Tinubu Appoints Yusuf Hamisu Abubakar as NIMASA Chairman

  Yusuf Hamisu Abubakar (Mairago) By Ammar M. Rajab  President Bola Tinubu has appointed Yusuf Hamisu Abubakar as the Chairman of the Nigeri...

 

Yusuf Hamisu Abubakar (Mairago)

By Ammar M. Rajab 

President Bola Tinubu has appointed Yusuf Hamisu Abubakar as the Chairman of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA).

The announcement was made on Friday in a statement issued by presidential spokesperson Bayo Onanuga.

Abubakar, a lawyer with diverse expertise in finance, management, and economics, earned his LLB degree from Bayero University Kano in 1987 and a BL from the Nigerian Law School in 1988. He later obtained a Master’s degree in Business Administration from the University of Exeter, UK, in 2008.

He has attended several executive courses locally and internationally, including Financial Management and Accounting for Senior Managers at Southern Methodist University (Dallas, USA), Negotiation Skills for Executives at Templeton College (Oxford, UK), and the Chief Executive Programme at Lagos Business School. He also studied Corporate Governance at Harvard Business School (Boston, USA).

Abubakar has held various roles across the public and private sectors. As Director-General of the Bureau for Lands and Survey in Kaduna State, he introduced innovative approaches to land administration. He later served on the Kaduna State Executive Council as Honourable Commissioner for Health and Social Development and subsequently as Commissioner for Finance and Economic Planning.

In the private sector, Abubakar transitioned into legal practice before becoming the Pioneer Executive Secretary of the Petroleum Technology Development Fund (PTDF). There, he established a world-class organizational structure and operational culture, setting standards for petroleum training aligned with international best practices.

Abubakar’s portfolio also includes serving as a Commissioner for the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) from 2011 to 2015. Additionally, he has held leadership roles as Director of Kano Electricity Distribution Company, Chairman of Kaduna Electricity Distribution Company, and Chairman of Niger Insurance Plc.

A recipient of numerous national and international accolades, Abubakar holds the Officer of the Order of the Niger (OON), is a Fellow of the Eisenhower Foundation in Philadelphia, USA, and has been conferred an Honorary Doctorate in Business Studies by Robert Gordon University, UK.