Sen. Datti Baba-Ahmed

As expectations for who would become the running mate of Mr. Peter Obi, the labour party standard bearer  for the 2023 presidential election continue to rise, news creeping is has it that Obi is likely to jettison the choice of Kwankwaso and settle for Yusuf Datti Babba-Ahmed.

According to an online source, "Yusuf Datti Baba-Ahmed is a 46 year old Academician, Businessman and Nigerian politician. He was a member of the House of Representatives between 2003 and 2007, and was elected Senator for Kaduna North, in Kaduna State, Nigeria in April 2011 running on the Congress for Progressive Change ticket, with a remarkable record of the credit of sponsoring important legislation in a very short time.

"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.

"In 2011, Sen. Baba-Ahmed established Baze University, an independent University located in Abuja, Nigeria. Using his studies abroad as a benchmark, he noted that the Nigerian educational system was 'appalling'. This inspired the birth of Baze University, 'to contribute towards fixing the system in order for Nigeria to realize its potentials and address various challenges'.

"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.

"In 2015, Sen. Yusuf Baba-Ahmed was appointed as Chairman, Board of Trustees (BOT) of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) Hope Alive Foundation - which campaigns for post-service economic survival of corps members who suffered permanent disability during service." The source said.

Furthermore, it is worthy of note that Sen. Baba-Ahmed is currently;

* Pro-Chancellor of Baze University

* Managing Director, Baze Research &       Data Service Ltd

* Chairman, Baze Construction Ltd.

His companies employ a total of over 1000 people including expatriates, and highly skilled professional Nigerians from the Diaspora.

Some fans of Mr. Peter Obi believe that Sen. Baba-Ahmed seem to have similar character trait with Mr. Peter Obi, and would feel more comfortable with him compared to Kwankwaso whom they believe his popularity is overrated.

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