Aliyu Muktar

Muktar Aliyu Betara is a Nigerian accountant and lawmaker, first elected to the House of Representatives of the Federal Republic of Nigeria in 2007 to represent the Biu/Bayo/Shani and Kwaya Kusar Federal Constituency of Borno State in the North-eastern region of Nigeria. He was the Chairman, House Committee on Appropriations in the 9th Assembly which held its first session on 11 June 2019. This marks his fourth tenure as a member of the House of Representatives.

Family and early life Betara who is an indigene of Zarawuyaku in Biu township, Borno State, was born on 22 November 1966 into a large family; he is the 20th of 21 children. His father was a civil servant heading several community councils while his mother was a devoted housewife.

Education Betara began his education at Biu Central Primary School in 1973 and obtained his First School Leaving Certificate in 1978. entered the race for the House of Representatives on the platform of the All Nigerian Peoples Party (ANPP) and got elected as the member representing the interests of Biu, Kwaya Kusar, Bayo and Shani Federal Constituency at the House of Assembly in 2007.

Since then, he has been re-elected three times, emerging as one of the few members to have served in the sixth, seventh, eighth and ninth assemblies in Nigeria, with the current and immediate past tenures secured on the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC).

At the seventh assembly (2011 to 2015), he was appointed as Chairman, House Committee on the Army, directly making recommendations to empower and sustain the activities of the army against the rising insurgency in the Northern region of Nigeria.

From 2015 to 2019, Betara served as Chairman of the House Committee on Defence. He is the current Chairman of the House committee on Appropriations, presiding over all other committees regarding the appropriation process in the House of Representatives. Under his leadership, the committee has succeeded in having the June-to-June budget cycle changed to a preferable January-to-December one for a more effective budget implementation. As a result, the Appropriation Act, 2022 and the Finance Act, 2021 have been passed and enacted respectively for the third consecutive year without fail, enabling all stakeholders to prepare adequately for any fiscal changes.

Bills and Motions Defence Research and Development Bureau Bill 2018. Bill for an act to repeal the produce enforcement of export standard.

Personal life Betara is a devout Muslim and is married to Hauwa Betara with whom he has 4 children.