HON. MOHAMMED UMARA KUMALIA

Hon. Mohammed Umara Kumalia is a lawyer by profession with almost four decades of work experience in both the public and private sectors. He obtained certification as a Public Private Partnership (PPP) Specialist from the Institute of Public Private Partnership (IP3) in Virginia, USA and is the Principal Partner/CEO of PPP Advisories, an infrastructure advisory firm he founded in 2009 specialised in providing transaction advisory services for PPPP projects. Kumalia obtained specialization as a legislative drafting expert from the Royal Institute of Public Administration in London in 1992. He is also the Managing Partner at Prime Law Firm, a legal firm with specialization in corporate and business law, energy law, arbitration and mediation, Public Private Partnerships and the capital market among others.

Kumalia served as a member of the House of Representatives between 1999 and 2007 and as Minority Leader between 1999 and 2003. Kumalia was nominated to represent Nigeria in the continental parliament for Africa – The Pan African Parliament in Midrand, South Africa, where he served as a member of parliament representing Nigeria between 2003 to 2007.

As a member of the House of Representatives, Kumalia was elected to serve as the President of the Regional Parliamentary Committee on the Lake Chad, a regional parliamentary organisation comprising members of parliament from Nigeria, Niger, Cameroon and Central African Republic focused on mobilizing attention, funding and support for the resuscitation of the Lake Chad, a natural ecosystem that supports the lives of over 30 million Africans. Kumalia also served as Executive Director Global Straskills Consulting and Managing Partner, Globaljuris consulting between 2007 and 2009. Other roles he served in include pioneer director of the Nigeria Bulk Electricity Trading Company (NBET) between 2011 and 2015 also a member of the 2014 National Conference. Between 1992 and 1998, Kumalia worked in the public service of the federation as a legislative draftsman in the service of the Nigerian National Assembly, drafting legislations for passage by parliament.

Kumalia sits on the board of several companies and non-governmental organizations among which are Chairman, Prime Properties and Company Limited; Chairman, Foundation for Public Private Partnership Nigeria (FPPPN); Chairman, Northern Reawakening Forum (NRF); Chairman, North East Advocacy Group and Member, Board of Trusted (BOT) as well as the Board of Governors (BOG) of the Borno Development Foundation (BDF). Kumalia is married and has seven children.