{{Short description|Nigerian politician}} {{Infobox officeholder | name = Sa'idu Barda | image = | image_size = 150px | office1 = Governor of Katsina State | term_start1 = January 1992 | term_end1 = November 1993 | predecessor1 = John Jahaya Madaki | successor1 = Emmanuel Acholonu | birth_date = | birth_place = | death_date = | party = National Republican Convention (1990s) | other_party = United Nigeria People's Party (2000s) }} Alhaji '''Sa'idu Barda''' is a Nigerian politician who was elected on the National Republican Convention (NRC) platform as Governor of Katsina State, Nigeria, holding office between January 1992 and November 1993 during the Nigerian Third Republic. He remained active in politics in the Nigerian Fourth Republic.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.worldstatesmen.org/Nigeria_federal_states.htm |title=Nigerian States |publisher=WorldStatesmen |accessdate=April 30, 2010}}</ref>
==Katsina State governor==
In the December 1991 elections for governor of Katsina State, Barda defeated Umaru Yar'Adua, the Social Democratic Party (SDP) candidate. Yar'Adua later went on to be elected president in April 2007.<ref>{{Cite news |url = http://www.sunnewsonline.com/webpages/news/national/2010/mar/09/national-09-03-2010-23.htm|location=Lagos, Nigeria |title = Missing President: Is Turai really to blame? |author = TIMOTHY OLA |date = March 9, 2010 |accessdate = April 30, 2010 |newspaper=The Sun}}{{dead link|date=May 2018 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> Umaru's elder brother General Shehu Yar'Adua, then a prominent politician with presidential ambitions, had failed to give his full backing to Umaru's bid. Barda was favored by the military president at the time, General Ibrahim Babangida.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.nationaldailyngr.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=789:obasanjo-tears-yaraduas-family-apart&catid=98:nationwide&Itemid=484 |title=Obasanjo tears Yar'Adua's family apart |author=SHEHU USMAN |work=National Daily News |accessdate=April 30, 2010}}</ref>
Barda completed construction of a flour mill in Katsina, initiated in 1981, but later abandoned. In June 1993, Barda set up a committee on the Rehabilitation of Education "to look into the educational decadence in schools ... and proffer solutions." He also laid the foundation for the Othman Dan Fodio Institute, intended to be the first Islamic university in Nigeria but later abandoned.<ref>{{cite book |title=Women and work in northern Nigeria: transcending boundaries |author=Renée Ilene Pittin |publisher=Palgrave Macmillan |year=2002 |ISBN=0-333-98456-0 |page=37,356, 365}}</ref> Barda supported Babangida's annulment of the 12 June 1993 election of MKO Abiola as president, saying "blood will flow on an unprecedented scale" if the annulment were to be reversed.<ref>{{Cite news |url = http://thenationonlineng.net/web2/articles/15602/1/Abiola-A-legacy-traduced/Page1.html|location=Lagos, Nigeria |title = Abiola: A legacy traduced |author = Olatunji Dare |date = August 25, 2009 |accessdate = April 30, 2010 |url-status = dead |archiveurl = https://web.archive.org/web/20100621184520/http://thenationonlineng.net/web2/articles/15602/1/Abiola-A-legacy-traduced/Page1.html |archivedate = June 21, 2010 |newspaper=The Nation}}</ref> The political struggles that followed the annulment led to the coup in which General Sani Abacha took power in November 1993, when all elected governors were dismissed.
==Later political career==
Barda was active in politics in the Nigerian Fourth Republic, becoming leader of the United Nigeria People's Party (UNPP). In January 2003, as chairman of the UNPP primary convention, Barda announced that Senator Jim Ifeanyichukwu Nwobodo would be the party's candidate in the April 2003 presidential elections.<ref>{{cite web |url = http://www.thisdayonline.com/archive/2003/01/12/20030112news02.html |title = Nwobodo, Nwachukwu Pick Presidential Tickets |author = Chukwudi Nwabuko and Chuks Okocha |date = January 12, 2003 |work = ThisDay |accessdate = April 30, 2010 |url-status = dead |archiveurl = https://web.archive.org/web/20050117073333/http://www.thisdayonline.com/archive/2003/01/12/20030112news02.html |archivedate = January 17, 2005 }}</ref> In May 2003, Barda was a member of the Arewa Consultative Forum, a group of Northern political leaders.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://news.biafranigeriaworld.com/archive/2003/may/01/001.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120401132506/http://news.biafranigeriaworld.com/archive/2003/may/01/001.html |url-status=usurped |archive-date=April 1, 2012 |title=Buhari Gives Conditions for Going to Court: Arewa divided over fresh polls |author1=Ali M. Ali|author2= Agaju Madugba|author3= Jare Ilelaboye|author4= Lillian Okenwa|author5= Tokunbo Adedoja |work=ThisDay |date=May 1, 2003 |accessdate=April 30, 2010}}</ref> In October 2009, Barda was at a meeting where former military ruler Muhammadu Buhari announced the formation of a new political alliance, the National Democratic Movement.<ref>{{Cite news |url = http://thenationonlineng.net/web2/articles/23599/1/We-wont-give-up-on-Nigeria-says-Buhari/Page1.html|location=Lagos, Nigeria |title = We won't give up on Nigeria, says Buhari |author = Yusuf Alli |date = October 29, 2009 |accessdate = April 30, 2010 |url-status = dead |archiveurl = https://web.archive.org/web/20091031194142/http://thenationonlineng.net/web2/articles/23599/1/We-wont-give-up-on-Nigeria-says-Buhari/Page1.html |archivedate = October 31, 2009 |newspaper=The Nation}}</ref> In 2010, Barda was deputy chairman of the Arewa Consultative Forum.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.independentngonline.com/DailyIndependent/Article.aspx?id=11393 |date=April 4, 2010 |work=Daily Independent |title=Zamfara Workers Threaten Govt |author=Idris Salisu |accessdate=April 30, 2010}}</ref>
==References== {{Reflist}} {{KatsinaGovernors}} {{State governors in the Nigerian Third Republic}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Barda, Saidu}} Category:Living people Category:National Republican Convention politicians Category:United Nigeria People's Party politicians Category:Governors of Katsina State Category:Year of birth missing (living people)
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