 Aliyu was state chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party in Niger State before his election to the senate.Aliyu was elected in 1999 as a member of the People's Democratic Party (PDP) for the Niger North constituency and appointed chair of the Upper House committee on Police Affairs.In January 2001, after the Senate had rejected liberalisation of the downstream sector of the petroleum industry, Aliyu said this was because the Senate had not been consulted.