He began his professional life as a chemistry teacher before going into business in the 1980s starting as the general manager of Sambo Farms Ltd in Katsina State. After the death of late dictator Sani Abacha in 1998, he founded the K34 political association which laid the groundwork for the ruling PDP. He was elected Katsina state governor in 1999 and re-elected in 2003. He was plucked from obscurity for President by then President Olusegun Obasanjo, who ensured that he won the ticket of the People's Democratic Party (PDP).
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