Abdu Dawakin Tofa

Who is Abdu Dawakin Tofa?

Alhaji Abdu Dawakin Tofa was a Nigerian agriculturalist and academic who was briefly governor of Kano State between May and October 1983 during the Nigerian Second Republic.

Abdu Dawakin Tofa earned a Higher Diploma from the School of Agriculture, Samaru, Zaria. From 1954 to 1960, he was an agricultural assistant in the former Borno Province. Tofa was a senior academic at the Audu Bako School of Agriculture, Dambatta when he was appointed Commissioner for Agriculture for Kano State in 1979. Later he became Commissioner for Special Duties in the cabinet of Governor Muhammadu Abubakar Rimi. When Deputy Governor Ibrahim Farouk was impeached, Tofa took his place.

When Rimi moved from the People's Redemption Party to the Nigerian People's Party in preparation for the 1983 elections he correctly, if unusually, resigned from office. Tofa became governor in May 1983 and held office until October 1983. He was instrumental in establishing the Kano Agricultural Research Development Authority - KNARDA - with the goal of "the total emancipation of the common man from hunger, disease, poverty and squalor".

After the military government of Muhammadu Buhari took power in the coup of 31 December 1993, Tofas was tried by a special tribunal and was jailed for 21 years for offenses that included receiving a N265,000 kickback for a N3.5 million contract awarded to Ashab construction company.