Political analysts in Kano speculated that the failure of the APC state party leadership to field Mr Jibrin as its governorship candidate was responsible for their defeat in the governorship election.
The joint ticket between Godswill Akpabio and Barau Jibrin, for the Senate Leadership, became a reality on Tuesday after they were elected the president and deputy president of the 10th Assembly of the Senate.
Mr Jibrin who represents Kano North Senatorial District, emerged as the deputy president of the 10th Senate unopposed while Mr Akpabio polled 63 votes to defeat a former governor of Zamfara State, Abdulaziz Yari, who got 46 votes.
The election result was announced by the Clerk of the National Assembly, Sani Tambuwal. He said 107 of the total 109 senators voted.
Mr Jibrin was a top contender for the senate president position before his party, the All Progressives Congress (APC), anointed Mr Akpabio as its preferred candidate.
Earlier, Mr Jibrin told reporters that he ought to have challenged Mr Akpabio, but he decided to obey the decision of the party to allow for inclusiveness.
Mr Jibrin was generally regarded as the preferred governorship candidate of the APC in the just concluded election until he was replaced by Nasiru Gawuna, who was the immediate past deputy governor of the state following intense lobbying.
Some political analysts still believe that the failure of the APC in Kano was due to its failure to present Mr Jibrin as its governorship candidate.
The concession made to Mr Jibrin for agreeing to relinquish the governorship ticket to Mr Gawuna was that he would replace the immediate past governor of the state, Abdullahi Ganduje, as the party's senatorial candidate of Kano North district.
A testament to Mr Jibrin's popularity in the zone was when he polled 234,652 votes to defeat the candidate of the New Nigeria People Party, (NNPP) Abdullahi Baffa, who scored 177,014 votes.
Mr Jibrin was first elected into the upper legislative chamber in 2015 and re-elected in 2019 and 2023 respectively. He previously served as a member of the House of Representatives, for the Tarauni Federal Constituency at the beginning of the Fourth Republic in 1999.
Born in the ancient city of Kano, Mr Jibrin holds a bachelor's degree in accounting, a master's degree in Financial Management and Pricing, a master's degree in Management, and a Master of Business Administration (MBA). He also holds a degree in Financial Management for Business Decisions from Cornell University, United States.
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A former Chairman of the Kano State Investment and Properties Ltd, and Commissioner of Science and Technology in the state, Mr Jibrin's popularity cut across districts in Kano. He served as a representative of the lower chamber for Kano Central before moving to Kano North where he was elected as senator thrice.
During his term in the House of Representatives and the three terms in the Senate, Mr Jibrin sponsored many bills and motions.
He was a strong supporter of a bill to build the Federal University of Education Technology in Bichi, Kano State. He also sponsored bills to establish the Federal Polytechnic Kabo where his father was born.
Mr Jibrin introduced another bill in 2020 to create the North West Development Commission to address gaps in infrastructural development in the region. He was named Northern Senator of the Year by the Nigerian Senate Press Corps in 2017.
While in the House of Representatives, he chaired the House Committee on Appropriations and was a member of the House Committee on Power. He was also the chairman House Committee on Appropriation for the 9th Senate.
He also performed critical roles in several development projects while serving on the Niger Delta, Industries, Land Transportation, and Appropriations Committees and holds the national honour of the Commander of the Order of the Niger (CON).
