Born in what is now Plateau State on February 16, 1943, Jeremiah Timbut Useni served as a Lt. General in the Nigerian Army and served as the Minister in charge of running the Abuja Federal Capital Territory during the Sani Abacha military dictatorship.
When General Sani Abacha, the head of state, passed away, he was the highest ranked officer. He was the Nigeria Army’s quarter-master general and minister of transportation, among other positions. In addition, Useni was the All Nigeria Peoples Party’s deputy chairman.
In the March 2015 national elections, he was elected as a senator representing Plateau State’s Plateau South district on the PDP platform. When Useni was named Military Governor of Nigeria’s now-defunct Bendel State in January 1984, he shot to national prominence.
There were rumors in 1998 that Useni, who was then minister for the capital territory of Abuja, would succeed General Sani Abacha. According to Useni, etiquette dictated that Abdulsalami Abubakar be appointed instead. Despite claims that Abacha died after consuming a poisoned apple, Useni maintained that he died naturally ten yearslater. His wife and son were among those killed in the EAS plane crash that occurred on May 4, 2002, while traveling from Kano to Lagos, Nigeria.
