Lt. Colonel Jibril Bala Yakubu was the first Administrator of Zamfara State

Zamfara State

Zamfara State is a state in northwestern Nigeria. Its capital is Gusau and its Governor is Abdul'aziz Abubakar Yari, a member of the All Nigeria Peoples Party . Until 1996 the area was part of Sokoto State....

 after it was created from part of Sokoto State

Sokoto State

Sokoto State is located in the extreme northwest of Nigeria, near to the confluence of the Sokoto River and the Rima River. As of 2005 it has an estimated population of more than 4.2 million...

 in October 1996, holding office until the return to democracy in May 1999 during the military regimes of Generals Sani Abacha

Sani Abacha

General Sani Abacha was a Nigerian military leader and politician. A Kanuri from Borno by tribe, he was born and brought up in Kano, Nigeria. He was the de facto President of Nigeria from 1993 to 1998....

 and Abdulsalami Abubakar

Abdulsalami Abubakar

General Abdulsalami Alhaji Abubakar is a Nigerian general who was President of Nigeria from June 9, 1998 until May 29, 1999. He succeeded Sani Abacha upon Abacha's death. It was during Abubakar's leadership that Nigeria adopted its new constitution on May 5, 1999, which provided for multiparty...

.
As Zamfara administrator, Yakubu created five Emirates in the state and eleven new District Councils.
After handing over to the civilian governor Mahmud Shinkafi

Mahmud Shinkafi

Mahmud Shinkafi was elected governor of Zamfara State, Nigeria in April 2007. He was a former member of the All Nigeria Peoples Party, and is now a member of the People's Democratic Party.He is of Muslim faith and has three wives.- References :...

 in May 1999, as a former military administrator he was required to retire from the army.

Yakubu was arrested and jailed based on a charge filed on 9 December 1999 that alleged that he conspired with four others in 1996 to assassinate Alex Ibru

Alex Ibru

Alex Ibru was a Nigerian businessman, founder and publisher of The Guardian newspaper, who was Minister of Internal Affairs from 1993 to 1995 during the military regime of General Sani Abacha.-Background:...

, the publisher of The Guardian newspaper.
As Commanding Officer of 29 Battalion, he allegedly supplied arms to killer squads who eliminated other opponents of General Sani Abacha.
In December 2003 a judge refused his request to stop the trial.
In April 2009 the Arewa Consultative Forum

Arewa Consultative Forum

The Arewa Consultative Forum is a political and cultural association of leaders in Northern Nigeria formed in 2000 which has considerable influence in the political scene...

, a Northern lobby group, urged the Federal Government to release Yakubu Jibril on the basis of the spirit of national reconciliation recommended by the Oputa panel.

Eventually, after 12 years of imprisonment, trials and retrials, Yakubu and his co-defendants were acquitted of most charges on 21 December 2010.
The co-defendants were former Chief Security Officer Hamza al-Mustapha

Hamza al-Mustapha

Hamza al-Mustapha was the Chief Security Officer of General Sani Abacha, military head of state of Nigeria from November 1993 to June 1998. After Abacha's death he was arrested and tried for murder and attempted murder...

, former Lagos State

Lagos State

Lagos State is an administrative division of Nigeria, located in the southwestern part of the country. The smallest in area of Nigeria's states, Lagos State is the most populous state in Nigeria and arguably the most economically important state of the country and west Africa, containing Lagos, the...

Police Commissioner James Danbaba and former head of the Aso Rock Anti-Riot Police Rabo Lawal.