Ghali Umar Na'Abba

As an affirmed progressive politician, the obvious derailment of PDP yet again in 2014 as evidenced in the mass exodus of leaders from the party forced Na’Abba to leave the party after consulting widely and plausibly. He joined the All Progressives Congress (APC), a coalition political platform for politicians of progressive bent desirous of positive change. Predictably, APC has succeeded in displacing PDP at federal level and several states.

He completed a postgraduate programme on Leadership and Good Governance at the Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University in the United States in 2004. He served as Speaker of the House, and led several international bodies on parliament at the wake of the millennium.

The executive arm of government, particularly the presidency, did not approve of his leadership. Consequently, greater part of Na’Abba's tenure witnessed grand plots by the Presidency to oust him, so as to replace him with a compromising legislator. This severed the relationship between the House and the Presidency. He survived till the end of his four-year tenure on June 3, 2003. In August 2002, the House gave president Olusegun Obasanjo an ultimatum to either resign or face impeachment action.

In April 2003, he sought a re-election into the House of Representatives on the platform of People's Democratic Party. The Presidency that brazenly lost the battle of removing him as Speaker extended the animosity to his re-election bid.

Following the manipulations orchestrated by some of the party leaders which resulted in his loss of 2003 National Assembly election and perceived growing injustice in the party at that time which made the party to fall far short of his idea of a political party as enumerated above, Na’Abba decided to leave the party in protest with other like minds for Action Congress of Nigeria in 2006. When it became obvious that the key leaders who perpetuated the injustice had begun to give way, he returned to PDP, three years later.

He has also attended, chaired and presented papers at several international seminars, conferences on politics, parliament, development and good governance. Among them were Conference of Presiding Officers of National Parliaments held in New York in 2000; West African Speakers Conferences held in 2000 and 2001 in Ouagadougou and Abuja respectively; Commonwealth Parliamentary Association annual conferences held variously in 1999, 2000, 2001 at Trinidad and Tobago, London and Melbourne, Australia and several others.

It is however on record that based on his leadership attributes, exceptional commitment to duty and towering performance and enhanced results, he was elevated from being the Vice President of the following regional parliamentary bodies - Conference of Speakers of West African Parliaments; African Region, Commonwealth Parliamentary Association and Africa Parliamentary Union - to president, all in 2000 and 2001. These offered him a rare opportunity to significantly redefine, reshape and drive African parliamentary diplomacy and development, fundamentally desired in the wake of the new millennium in 2000. As the President of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association, Africa Region, he took Nigeria back to the body and thus Nigeria's name was removed from abeyance. Countries that are ruled by the military are put in abeyance by such bodies.

He joined the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) in 1998 during its formative period. He emerged the party's candidate in April 1999 National Assembly election in Kano Municipal Federal Constituency of Kano state and won the election to represent the Federal constituency in the House of Representatives. With the victory and support of other House members-elect from Kano and North West geo-political zone, he pursued the role as Speaker of the House. Although he amassed substantial support from his colleagues and party leaders, he bowed to counsel and conceded to Ibrahim Salisu Buhari, who later emerged as first Speaker of Fourth Republic House of Representatives. He was thus appointed the House Committee Chairman on Appropriations.

After his university education and a one-year compulsory National Youth Service, prior to his branch into politics, Ghali, in 1980 joined his father's chain of companies. His business interests ranged from importation of goods, manufacturing to publishing. Thus, at first he became, Secretary, Na’Abba Commercial Trading Company Limited and Later:

In training, practice and expertise, Na’Abba is a political scientist and a policy architect. He obtained a bachelor's degree in Political Science from the Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria in 1979. His early education was at Jakara Primary School, Kano where he obtained his First School Leaving Certificate in 1969. He later attended Rumfa College, Kano for his West African School Certificate and was also at School of Preliminary Studies, Kano, between 1974 and 1976, before gaining admission into Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria in October, 1976.

Ghali Umar Na'Abba (born 27 September 1958) is a Nigerian politician and former Speaker of the House.

Ghali Umar Na’Abba CFR was born into the family of Alhaji Umar Na’Abba, a businessman in Tudun Wada, Kano City, Kano Municipal Local Government on 27 September 1958. His father was a firm disciplinarian and an Islamic scholar. His father taught him virtues of hard work, entrepreneurship, forthrightness, audacity, sincerity, dynamism, liberal disposition, prudence, modesty and strong religious inclination.