Iya Abubakar (born 14 December 1934) is a Nigerian politician and mathematician who held multiple cabinet level appointments (Minister of Defence and Minister of Internal Affairs) during the Nigerian Second Republic, and Senator for Adamawa North from May 1999 to May 2007.

[1] Iya Abubakar was born in Belel, British Cameroon (now in Adamawa State, Nigeria), on December 14, 1934.

A year later, he was awarded a Ph.D. in applied mathematics and theoretical physics from Cambridge University, becoming the first person from the Northern region of Nigeria to receive this degree.

However, following the Ali Must Go student protests of 1978, the Supreme Military Council forced him to resign from his position.

[17] After taking his seat in the Senate in June 1999 he was appointed to committees on Public Accounts, Banking & Currency (chairman), Commerce and Finance & Appropriation.