The Labour Party did unveil Datti Baba-Ahmed as the running mate to their presidential candidate, Mr Peter Obi.
The unveiling of Datti Baba-Ahmed was initially slated for Thursday at the party’s national secretariat in Abuja but the National Chairman of the party, Barrister Julius Abure, said the ceremony was postponed because Obi, who travelled to Maiduguri and was expected back in Abuja Thursday afternoon, had his flight cancelled.
Below is his brief profile:
Yusuf Datti Baba-Ahmed was born to the Baba-Ahmed family in Zaria in the 1970s. He is 46 years old and among the thirty-three children of his father, Baba Ahmed.
From the prominent Baba-Ahmed family of Zaria, Baba-Ahmed graduated from the University of Maiduguri. After schooling, he worked in business and banking for several years before entering politics.
Datti Baba-Ahmed has four degrees; a BSc and MSc in Economics from University of Maiduguri, a MBA from University of Wales, Cardiff and in 2006, he successfully completed his PhD studies, earning the title of Doctor of Philosophy at the University of Westminster.
After his service year at University of Agriculture Abeokuta, Ogun state, he worked as Projects Co-ordinator, Baze Research and Data Services Ltd. and as Officer II in the Nigerian Security Printing and Minting Company, Lagos. He worked as a Banking Officer, First Bank of Nigeria Plc from July 1997 to Dec 1998 and then came back to become the Managing Director of Baze Research and Data Services Ltd in July 1999 – January 2003, before venturing into politics.
He was a member of the House of Representatives between 2003 and 2007, and was elected Senator for Kaduna North in 2011.
Baba-Ahmed was popular for his principled Activism. During the administration of President Olusegun Obasanjo, he was among lawmakers who opposed letting Obasanjo run for a third term. In May 2006 he said he would not run for reelection unless action was taken to investigate allegations that members had been bribed to support the constitutional changes needed for a third term Presidency. In 2007 he took the Independent National Electoral Commission to court over conduct of past elections. He was known for speaking out against corruption.
In 2011, Sen. Baba-Ahmed established Baze University, an independent University located in Abuja, Nigeria.
In 2015, Sen. Yusuf Baba-Ahmed was appointed as Chairman, Board of Trustees (BOT) of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) Hope Alive Foundation
Sen. Baba-Ahmed is currently;
Pro-Chancellor of Baze University
Managing Director, Baze Research & Data Service Ltd
Chairman, Baze Construction Ltd.
His companies reportedly employ a total of over 1000 people including expatriates, and highly skilled professional Nigerians from the Diaspora
Sen. Datti is a well accomplished philanthropist. Among many of his corporate social responsibility projects; he built and donated two junior secondary schools with total capacity of 4,000 students. It is worthy of note that the schools have graduated over 6,000 students to date.