A leader who listens, understands, and acts.
A record to stand on, and a plan to continue.
Dr Agbu Kefas spent twenty-one years in the Nigerian Army and retired a lieutenant colonel. Since 29 May 2023 he has governed Taraba State, and he now stands as the All Progressives Congress candidate for Governor of Taraba State in 2027.
A son of Wukari, raised on duty and faith.
Agbu Kefas was born on 12 November 1970 in Wukari, in what is now Taraba State. He grew up in a household where service was the family trade: his elder brother, the late Air Commodore Ibrahim Kefas, wore the uniform before him. He has been a member of the Deeper Life Bible Church since childhood, and he and his wife, Agyin, have four children.
That upbringing set the two habits he has carried into office: discipline learned at home and in the barracks, and a conviction that public authority is held in trust, not owned.
Trained to plan, to hold a line, and to finish.
He took his first degree at the Nigerian Defence Academy, Kaduna, graduating in 1994 in political science and defence studies, then served twenty-one years in the Nigerian Army and retired as a lieutenant colonel.
He kept studying throughout. A master's in legal criminology and security psychology from the University of Ibadan in 2005, a master's in public administration from Delta State University, Abraka, in 2008, and a certificate from the Harvard Kennedy School programme for senior executives in national and international security. Soldiering gave him the discipline; the classrooms gave him the policy grammar to use it.
Boardrooms, national committees, then the ballot.
Out of uniform, he was appointed Chairman of the Governing Board of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency from 2013 to 2015, and served on the Presidential Committee on the North-East Initiative from 2016 to 2019, at the height of the region's security and humanitarian emergency.
He became state chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party in August 2020, won the party's governorship primary in 2022, and took the March 2023 election by a margin of 100,337 votes. He was sworn in on 29 May 2023 alongside his deputy, Aminu Abdullahi Alkali, and in January 2026 moved to the All Progressives Congress.
Five decades, one line of service.
- 1970
Born in Wukari
Into a family of service, in the town that still shapes how he reads Taraba.
- 1994
Nigerian Defence Academy
Graduates in political science and defence studies and is commissioned into the Nigerian Army.
- 2005
University of Ibadan
Master's in legal criminology and security psychology, later joined by an MPA from Delta State University.
- 2013
Chairman, NIMASA board
Two years steering the governing board of Nigeria's maritime administration and safety agency.
- 2016
Presidential Committee on the North-East
Three years on the national response to the region's security and humanitarian crisis.
- 2023
Elected Governor of Taraba
Wins by 100,337 votes and is sworn in on 29 May as the state's Executive Governor.
- 2027
Standing again
Seeking a second term on the APC platform, to finish the plan rather than start a new one.
Not a career politician. A planner in office.
Finish what is working. Fix what is not.
Three years in, the administration's own measure is bridging the gaps it inherited in infrastructure, security and education. These are the sectors the second term is built around.
Education
Free and compulsory basic education, renovated schools in Jalingo, Wukari, Mutum Biyu and Sardauna, new teachers recruited and trained.
Healthcare
Primary health centres revitalised in Zing, Lau, Takum and Bali, with the Specialist Hospital in Jalingo upgraded.
Agriculture
Improved seed, fertiliser and tools distributed, irrigation support for dry-season farming in the riverine areas.
Infrastructure
Jalingo township roads and drainage rebuilt, rural roads opened in Ardo Kola, Karim Lamido and Gassol.
Security
Executive orders against political thuggery and armed movement, backed by closer work with federal security commands.
Youth
Skills and enterprise training, and a youth development agency created to carry grants and mentorship to start-ups.
Solid minerals
Mining brought into the light through documentation, a stop to unsafe operations and a state investment roundtable.
Higher education
A new Senate Building complex at Taraba State University, with lecture halls and hostels rehabilitated.
The next generation is the real infrastructure.
Taraba is a young state, and the administration has pushed its youth programmes from training rooms into capital. A state Youth Development Agency was created to put grants, starter kits and mentorship directly in the hands of young people building something, rather than leaving support to end at a certificate.
Alongside the grants run skills programmes in agro-processing, tailoring, information technology and small-scale manufacturing, and cooperative financing for women in business. The conviction behind all of it is simple: a state develops when its people can earn, and opportunity has to reach the ward, not stop at the capital.
Taraba has bridged its gaps in infrastructure, security and education. The work of the next term is to finish it.
Governor Agbu Kefas, on three years in office