Dr. Sa’ad Umar Idris graduated from the Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria Nigeria with a B.Sc. Political Science (Best Second-Class Upper Division Student) from the Department of Political Science, Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences (FASS), which earned him the Henry Ijembi Award for being the Best Graduating Student from Department of Political Science, F.A.S.S, A.B.U Zaria in 1989. He obtained an M.Sc. Business Studies (Human Resources Management Major) from Salford University, Salford, Manchester, UK in 1993 and emerged among the top two on the course. Thereafter, he attended a Management Development Programme at Further Education Staff College, Coombe Lodge, Blagdon, Bristol, Uk in October, 1993.

In 2001, Dr. Idris got a fellowship from the Chinese Government to undertake a Ph.D in Economics. In July 2005, Dr. Idris graduated with a Ph.D Economics (Labour Economics Major) from the Premier Renmin (People’s) University of China, Beijing. During the course of his Ph.D programme, he was involved in various researches both in and outside China especially in the areas of training and development which has been his research interest and professional field. During his fellowship Ph.D  programme at Beijing, he had the opportunity to work with renowned Professors both in and outside China, including renown American Professor of Economics and Nobel Prize Winner, Professor James Heckman. He is a Member/Fellow of many Professional bodies, some of which are the Nigerian Institute of Management (NIM), Chartered Institute of Personnel Management (CIPM), Fellow, Institute of Industrialist and Corporate Administrators (FIICA), and Fellow, Institute of Corporate Administration (FICA). He is also a Fellow and Ambassador of the Chattered Institute of Loan and Risk Management of Nigeria (CILRMN) and a Council Member of the Institute as well.

Dr. Idris has over 30 years’ experience in the Nigerian Public Service, most of which was spent on the training function, he had always been involved in developing and implementation of visionary, dynamic and innovative training solutions that addresses issues of preparation and coordination of training/capacity building plans, providing organizational set-up for trainings; designing training programmes and organizing logistics for large scale International Trainings and Study Tours.

He was appointed Director of Training of The Electoral Institute (TEI), Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in 2015 and in 2017, he became the Acting Director-General of the Institute, a position he occupied for two years before becoming the substantive Director-General in 2019. Since his joining the Institute, he has been responsible for matters pertaining to Coordination of Electoral Training and Research Activities of the Institute and also supervises and coordinates Research Publications of the Institute which includes TEI Monograph series, Nigeria Electoral Journal, TEI Public Lectures, Policy Dialogues and RoundTable series. This is in addition to supervising the Electoral Violence Mitigation and Advocacy Tool (EVMAT) activities etc.

Dr. Sa’ad Umar Idris has written many papers and articles on elections, election administration and political development. Among his many researches and papers are:

2018. ELECTRONIC DATA GATHERING APPLICATION. A paper presented at the Fourth Business Meeting of the Nigerian Election Working Group. (NEWG), Ibeto Hotel Abuja. 7^th December, 2018.
2019. ELECTORAL VIOLENCE AND THE CHALLENGES OF DEMOCRATIC CONSOLIDATIONS IN NIGERIA’S FOURTH REPUBLIC: AN INSIDER’S ASSESSMENT – A paper prepared for consideration and publication in The Nigerian Electoral Journal, September, 2018.

• INTERNATIONAL DONOR AGENCIES AND ELECTORAL SUPPORT IN NIGERIA: A CASE STUDY OF 2015 GENERAL ELECTIONS. A paper prepared for consideration and publication in The Nigerian Electoral Journal, August, 2018.

2018. SECURITY THREATS AND THE CONDUCT OF 2019 GENERAL ELECTIONS IN NIGERIA: THE IMPERATIVE OF EARLY WARNING ACTION. – A paper prepared for consideration and publication in The Nigerian Electoral Journal, July, 2018.
2019. EFFECTIVE PARTY EDUCATION AND THE ACTIVITIES OF POLITICAL PARTY INSTITUTE IN A DEMOCRACY. A paper prepared for NILS Conference, Abuja, June 2018.
2020. OVERVIEW OF INEC STRATEGIC PLAN, A paper presentation at INEC Training Plan Review Workshop 2015-2019, 12^th – 13^th March 2018.

• TRAINING BRIEF AT INEC RETREAT FOR NATIONAL COMMISSIONERS AND REVIEW OF IMPLEMENTATION OF THE 2012-2016 STRATEGIC PLAN, December, 2017.
• TRAINING PLAN FOR 2017 ANAMBRA GOVERNORSHIP ELECTION: PROGRAMME, METHODOLOGY AND TRAINERS IDENTIFICATION AND SELECTION. A presentation at INEC, E-OPS PEP Technical Workshop, Cihcotel Classique Hotel, Awka, Anambra State. November, 2017

2017. EVMAT AND ELECTORAL CREDIBILITY IN NIGERIA: EVIDENCE FROM EDO AND ONDO STATES 2016 GOVERNORSHIP ELECTIONS, A paper prepared for publication in Nigeria Electoral Journal, October 2017.
2018. AMERICAN ELECTORAL PROCESS BEST PRACTICES. A presentation at TEI Knowledge Sharing on TEI Study Tour to Oakland California Institute for International Education (CIIE), October, 2015.
2019. ELECTION TRAINING IN DEMOCRACIES: EMERGING CHALLENGES. A paper presented at the Indian International Institute for Democracy and Election Management, July, 2017.

Dr Idris has also attended many international conferences and symposiums that focused on the development of the Nigerian electoral process. These include:

1. Certificate on Professionalism in Election Administration, California Institute for International Education, October 30, 2015, Oakland California, USA,
2. Certificate of Attendance International Consultative Workshop: Leveraging Electoral Training Facilities Globally organized by IIIDEM/International IDEA, New Delhi, 24-25 July, 2017

• BRIDGE Certificate of Course Completion of Elections Professional Development Training. IFES. Abuja May 2018.

2017. Certificate of Attendance, Professional Training in Elections and Electoral Data Management, Storage and Analysis. International Centre for Parliamentary Studies. Los Angeles. December, 2017.
2018. Certificate of Attendance. International Electoral Training Workshop. The African Institute, Manchester. United Kingdom. April, 2016.
2019. Certificate on Train-the-Trainer and Managing the Training Function, Global Training Consult (GTC), London, UK 2^nd -13^th July, 2012.

• 38^th Asian Regional Training and Development International Human Resources Development (HRD) and Leadership Conference 20-22 November, 2011, Taipei-
• IP 3 Certificate of Achievement in Recognition of Successful Completion of the Capacity Building Program Requirements for PPP Project Screening and   Appraisal Techniques: Developing Viable Infrastructure Investments in Africa May 27- 30, 2013, Abuja Nigeria

Dr. Idris speaks several languages including Mandarin (Chinese) Language.