Yakubu Dogara was born in December 1967 (i.e., 48 years of age) in Bauchi State, where he undertwent most of his primary and secondary education before heading to the University of Jos to study Law.

He currently is the the Honourable member representing representing Bogoro/Dass/Tafawa-Balewa federal constituency and was first elected in 2007, having been involved in politics in his earlier years.

Below is a chronological description of his education and career.

In his early formative years, Dogara went to Gwarangah Primary School in Bauchi state, from 1976. Upon graduation in 1982, he went to the Bauchi Teachers’ College for his secondary education, and obtained a Grade II Teachers’ Certificate in 1987.

In 1988, he went on to the University of Jos, Plateau State, from where he obtained a Bachelor of Law (LLB Hons.) degree in 1992. Following that stint, he was then called to the Nigerian Bar in 1993 -giving him rights to practice as a lawyer.

Dogara later obtained a Masters (LLM) in International Commercial Law at Robert Gordon University, Aberdeen, Scotland.

In 2006, he attended a course on Managing and Leading Strategic Change in 2006 and also underwent the Oxford University Course on Negotiation in 2013. Following that, in 2014, he went to the Harvard Kennedy School for another course on Leadership.

After graduation as a lawyer from the University of Jos and subsequently from the Robert Gordon University, Dogara was into private legal practice, before being appointed Special Assistant to the Minister of State for Transport.

It was from this position that he ran for the House of Representatives election in Bauchi state.

How he emerged speaker

The 48 year-old lawyer, defeated Femi Gbajabiamila, also a lawyer, by eight votes, winning 182-174 and revealing once again the schism within the ruling All Progressives Party.

Gbajabiamila had the backing of the APC party (and specifically that of Bola Tinubu), just like Senator Ahmed Lawan in the Senate.

But between 47 and 57 members of APC decided to defy the party, to collaborate with the Peoples Democratic Party to elect Yakubu Dogara.

Unlike the Senate where the PDP has 49 senators, the PDP party only has 125 members in the 360 – member House of Representatives (APC has 214 members).

The three other parties, Labour Party, Accord Party and the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) share the balance of 10 seats.

Political intrigues and compromises between the PDP and APC led many APC senators to back the emergence of Dogara over the chosen APC candidate. Many kicked against the core idea of having godfathers within the party and specifically, thought about the balance of power.

In many clandestine meetings, it was clear that the PDP had decided to back Dogara against the odds. Several APC senators, seeing such bold declaration equally decided to pitch their tent with Dogara.

ViewPointNigeria Analysis

The clear losers in the entire debacle are the Bola Tinubu camp and the South West.  So far, both their choices of Senate President and Speaker have lost out. Meaning the representation of the South West and specifically that of the old “ACN” party which merged with APGA and CPC has been diminished.

Also, with President Buhari’s hard stance, many political analysts  opine that he may nominate a cabinet simply on his own volition, without much input from the Tinubu camp.

To butress this fact, Buhari asserted his independence from day one, with his statement that  “I Belong to Everyone and I Belong to no one”. So it may not be business as usual for God-fatherism, it would appear.

If indeed he shows his independence, the political influence of Bola Tinubu on the present government may wane significantly. And as such, we opine that cracks may begin to appear between the old CPC, ACN and APGA parties which make up APC.

If Tinubu and the South West lose out completely, especially in the much awaited ministerial list (which is the only other thing remaining), then expect to begin to see critical write-ups about Buhari in the media, with the eventual break-out of ACN from the current APC merger in the next few years.

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A short Profile of Yakubu Dogara, the Law Graduate from University of Jos