Sada Abubakar

Sultan Muhammadu Sa'ad Abubakar III
Abubakar on August 23, 2016
Sultan of Sokoto Amir al-Mu'minin
Preceded by	Muhammadu Maccido
Personal details
Born	(1956-08-24) August 24, 1956 (age 60) Sokoto, Sokoto State, Nigeria
Parents	Siddiq Abubakar III
Alma mater	Barewa College Nigerian Defence Academy Command and Staff College, Jaji
Military service
Allegiance	Nigeria
Service/branch	Nigerian Army
Years of service	1975 – 2006
Rank	Brigadier General

Amirul Mumineen Sultan Muhammadu Sa'ad Abubakar III (born August 24, 1956 in Sokoto) is the 20th Sultan of Sokoto, the titular ruler of Sokoto in northern Nigeria, head of Jama’atu Nasril Islam (Society for the Support of Islam - JNI), and president-general of the Nigerian National Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs (NSCIA). As Sultan of Sokoto, he is considered the spiritual leader of Nigeria's seventy-million Muslims, roughly fifty percent of the nation's population. Sa'adu Abubakar succeeded his brother, Muhammadu Maccido, who died on ADC Airlines Flight 53, the flight crashed shortly after takeoff from Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport and had been destined for Sokoto.

Sa'adu Abubakar is a younger son of the seventeenth Sultan, Siddiq Abu Bakar dan Usuman, who held the Sultanate for over fifty years. Abubakar is the fifth heir to the two century-old throne founded by his ancestor, Sheikh Usman Dan Fodio (1754-1817) leader of the Maliki school of Islam and the Qadiri branch of Sufism. He attended the prestigious Barewa College, Zaria and proceeded to the Nigerian Defence Academy in 1975 where he was a member of the 18th Regular Course. Abubakar was commissioned a Second Lieutenant in 1977 and served in the elite Armoured Corps.

Abubakar headed a presidential security unit of the Armoured Corps that guarded then military ruler General Ibrahim Babangida in the late 1980s. Abubakar also commanded a battalion of African peacekeepers in Chad during the early 1980s as part of the Organisation of African Unity's force and was military liaison officer for the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) in the mid 1990s. He was appointed Commanding Officer 241 Recce Battalion, Kaduna in 1993. From 1995 to 1999, he was ECOWAS military liaison officer and commanding officer, 231 Tank Battalion (ECOMOG Operations) in Sierra Leone from 1999 to 2000. From 2003 to 2006, he served as Defence Attaché to Pakistan (also accredited for Iraq, Saudi Arabia, and Afghanistan). Upon his elder brother, Sultan Maccido's death, he was recalled to take office as the 20th Sultan of Sokoto and retired as a brigadier general.