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Commissioner, Budget and Planning, Kaduna State, Nigeria

With over a decade of experience in development policy formulation, public finance and project implementation, Muhammad is the Commissioner for Budget and Planning in Kaduna State, Nigeria (population 8m). In this position, he leads on the the States broad economic growth and development portfolio. As the Commissioner (Sub-National Minister) for Budget and Planning he is a Member of the State Executive Council, and is responsible for designing the fiscal strategy and coordinating the implementation and monitoring of the state budget (172 bn/ $800m in 2016). Prior to his appointment, he was a Policy Adviser in the Executive Office of United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon in New York and a member of the Secretary General’s core team that designed the Sustainable Development Goals( SDGs). He has also served in the past as an Economist and Deputy National Program Manager in Nigeria’s Presidency where he supported the design and coordination of development interventions across 36 States focusing on accelerating the country’s progress on the MDGs. He was subsequently appointed Economic Adviser of the Nigeria Governor’s Forum, a political and policy think tank for the country’s 36 elected Governors. Muhammad holds an MSc in Development Economics and Policy from the University of Manchester, a second Masters in International Affairs and Diplomacy from Ahmadu Bello University Zaria and has studied Public Finance at the London School of Economics, Sustainable Development with Columbia University in New York and Advanced Project Management at Oxford University in the United Kingdom. He is a UK Chevening Scholar, member of the University of Oxford Business Alumni Network, Fellow of the Archbishop Tutu Leadership Institute and most recently a fellow of the Aspen Institute Africa Leadership program- ALIWA. He is married and is a proud father to three very energetic boys.