I’m Apolitical, I Don’t Need Your Appointment, Abdulsamad Rabiu Tells APC

By Eric Elezuo

The Chairman, BUA Group, Abdul Samad Rabiu, has turned down the All Progressives Congress (APC) appointment as a member of the party’s finance standing committee.

The APC had on Friday released a list compromising names of its standing committees. The list name the billionaire industrialist as a member of its finance committee while the party’s national secretary, Ajibola Basiru chairs the establishment committee.

Among the personalities in the list is a former Interim National Chairman of the party, Bisi Akande, who heads the conflict and reconciliation committee. Others are Felix Morka, who chairs Publicity while Uguru Ofoke and Emma Eneukwu are to oversee finance and intergovernmental committees, respectively.

Rabiu featured in the finance committee alongside A. A Rano, the chairman of the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), Zach Adedeji, Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Wale Edun and Senate President Godswill Akpabio, among other lawmakers and prominent party members.

But in a swift response shortly after the list was made public, the BUA group released a counter statement, informing that Rabiu was not consulted by the ruling party or anyone before his name was added to the list, insisting that the industrialist has “consistently adopted an apolitical stance over the years”.

The statement read:

“We extend our sincere appreciation to the APC for considering our chairman for such a distinguished role. This acknowledgement reflects the recognition of his commitment, and that of BUA Group, to economic prosperity and the development of our dear nation, Nigeria.

“With respect to this, we wish to inform the publishers, our partners, stakeholders, and the general public that Mr. Rabiu has decided to graciously decline the nomination/appointment. 

“This decision is made in light of the fact that he was not previously consulted regarding his inclusion in the list and his inability to commit time due to his demanding schedule.”

The inauguration of the committees, according to a statement on the ruling party’s social media page, is scheduled to hold on December 6, 2023 at its national secretariat in Abuja.

Rabiu is the Chairman/Chief Executive Officer, Bua Group, makers of quality cement, sugar among other wonderful household items.

Born on August 4, 1960, in Kano, to one of Nigeria’s foremost industrialists in the 1970s and 1980s, Khalifah Isyaku Rabiu, Abdul Samad Isyaku Rabiu CON is a perfect combination of many things in one.

It was in his native Kano that he kick started his academic pursuit, carousing through elementary education with ease as a gifted child, and obtained his First School Leaving Certificate. He was later admitted into the Federal Government College, Kano, where he had his secondary education, and gradually with honours.

With a combination of fate, brilliance and determination, Abdulsamad was catapulted to Capital University in Columbus, Ohio, where he studiously studied Economics, and acquired his tertiary education before returning to Nigeria, all before his 24th birthday, to oversee his family business. He was that much sort after, and highly brilliant, and considered capable of holding fort for his father, who was being detained by the administration of General Muhammadu Buhari over matters concerning import duties.

In 1988, just after learning the ropes of entrepreneurial excellence, Abdul Samad Rabiu established BUA International Limited, for the sole purpose of commodity trading. The company followed after the footsteps of his father, and imported rice, edible oil, flour, and iron and steel.

In 1990, having exhibited the character worthy of a world class entrepreneur, and the ability to execute classical projects, Rabiu’s BUA was invited by the government, which owned Delta Steel Company to supply its raw materials in exchange for finished products. This provided a much-needed leverage for the young company, and consequently expanded further into steel, producing billets, importing iron ore, and constructing multiple rolling mills in Nigeria.

Rabiu’s dexterity showed further a few years later, when the company acquired Nigerian Oil Mills Limited, the largest edible oil processing company in Nigeria, and there erupted the company’s and BUA’s influence and care over the people in the provision of affordable edible oil. His passion to see people excel in comfort has continued to make him churn out one great tiding after another, and endearing him in the hearts of the generality of the public.

A man with a vision for tomorrow,  Rabiu, in 2005, started two flour-milling plants, in Lagos and in Kano, and by 2008, had broken an eight-year monopoly in the Nigerian sugar industry by commissioning the second-largest sugar refinery in sub-Saharan Africa. This was a feat only a bravest of hearts could wroth. As a result, in 2009 the company went on to acquire a controlling stake in a publicly-listed Cement Company in Northern Nigeria and began to construct a $900 million cement plant in Edo State, completing it in early 2015. Rabiu’s passion for expansion is unequalled.

BUA Group has since concentrated and excelled in manufacturing, infrastructure and agriculture and producing a revenue in excess of $2.5 billion. This is in addition to being the chairman of the Bank of Industry (BOI).

The Group, in 2019, announced plans to merge its privately owned Obu Cement with the publicly traded Cement Company of Northern Nigeria Plc (CCNN), to create Nigeria’s second largest cement producer thereby consolidating the grip on the cement market and breaking its monopolistic status.

It is worthy of note that Cement Company of Northern Nigeria PLC in which Rabiu owned more than 97% was producing two million metric tons of cement per annum (Mtpa) while Obu Cement has an annual production capacity of 6Mtpa. The move is in line with the company’s resolve to deepen the Nigerian capital markets and enhance the growth of the cement industry.

Rabiu’s expansion strides cannot be complete without a mention of his extraordinary philanthropic gestures.

In April 2020, he made a whopping donation towards the fight to contain the spread of the Coronavirus pandemic presently ravaging the country.

Having earlier donated N1 billion to the private sector CACOVID and other states, he again announced the release of another N3.3 billion ‘grant to the working group made up of the Presidential Task Force, NCDC and other stakeholders in equipping two existing permanent facilities in Kano and Lagos states’.

In a letter dated April 24, 2020, he personally signed, and addressed to The Presidential Task Force on COVID-19, the billionaire businessman, congratulated the duo of the Task Force and the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) for doing a good job while observing that much as so much has been done, there was still need to do a lot more, as the disease continued to make inroads into many parts of the country, especially Lagos and Kano states.

“I view with deep concern, the increased rate of spread of the Coronavirus, especially in Kano and Lagos states despite concerted collective efforts to curb the spread and effects of the virus in Nigeria,” he said.

Rabiu is a treasure to humanity, and that explains why the ruling party found him suitable and worthy for membership of its finance committee. His truthfulness and strict adherence to focusing on the need of the society gave him the impetus to reject the appointment.