Abubakar Momoh Biography

Abubakar Momoh was born on August 28, 1964, he is a Professor of political science and acting director general of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC)’s Electoral Institute. He previously served as the Dean of the Faculty of Social Sciences at the Lagos state University, LASU.

Age

1964 to 2017 (53 Years)

Career

In 1988, Momoh began his work as a lecturer after earning his PhD in political theory. He has held positions on several boards and academic committees, including those of the Council for the Development of Social Science Research in Africa (CODESRIA) and the Centre for Democracy and Development (CDD). He served as the African Association of Political Science’s (AAPS) vice president. In addition, from 1991 to 1995, he served as the Academic Staff Union of Universities’ national treasurer.

Momoh has been a researcher and lecturer at many universities across the world, including being Visiting Research Fellow, Institute of Development Studies, University of Helsinki, Finland; Fellow, Department of Peace and Conflict Research, Uppsala University, Sweden; Visiting Scholar, Centre for African Studies, University of Cape Town, South Africa; Guest Researcher, Nordic Africa Institute, Sweden; Guest Lecturer, Summer Course on African Law, Catholic University, Brussels, Belgium; Senior Fulbright Scholar, James Coleman African Studies Centre, University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA); Guest Lecturer, African and African-American Studies Department, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, USA; Visiting Researcher and Tutor, Conflict, Security and Development Group (CSDG), King’s College, University of London; and Visiting Senior Research Fellow, International Development Centre, Open University, Milton Keynes, England, Post Graduate Research Supervisor, Bielefeld University, Bielefeld, German, among others.

Momoh has worked as an external examiner for the universities of South Africa’s Kwazulu-Natal, Ibadan, and Lagos. Since 2005, he has also served as an external examiner for the Nigerian Defence College (NDC).

Momoh has also served on a number of technical government committees, including as the member and coordinator of the Federal Republic of Nigeria’s “Vision 20:20” Technical Committee’s “Foreign Policy” Subcommittee. He was also a member of the group that drafted the Federal Government’s “Peace Support Operations (PSOS)” policy.

Professor Momoh has also served on a number of technical teams for the African Union Commission (AUC), most recently helping to create the African Union’s Elections Benchmarking and African Governance Architecture (AGA). On behalf of ECOWAS and the African Union, he has also worked as an election observer in a number of African nations. Additionally, he has worked as an election observer in a few European nations.

Building research institutions, civil society centres, and organisations on the continent was a crucial component of his work as an academic and civil society activist. The Academic Staff Union of Universities in Nigeria, the African Association of Political Science, the Centre for Democracy and Development, the Council for the Development of Social Science Research in Africa, the African Union Commission, and the Economic Community of West African States are a few organisations he has worked with and served on boards with.

His partner Tawa, son, mother, and siblings all survive him.