 Rabiu won with a difference of sixty three thousand plus votes, his party won three quarters of the house of assembly seats, by winning 30 out of the total 40 seats in the state.During his time as the governor, he sponsored over 7000 students to study abroad across different discipline and level from undergraduates and postgraduate.On 26 November he was among five PDP governors who defected to the new opposition party APC, and formed a PDP splinter group in August known as the G-7.