Colonel Umar Farouk Ahmed was Military Administrator of Cross River State, Nigeria (August 1996 - August 1998) during the military regime of General Sani Abacha. He was then appointed administrator of Kaduna State in August 1998 during the transitional regime of General Abdulsalami Abubakar, handing over power to the elected civilian governor Ahmed Mohammed Makarfi in May 1999.Shortly after, he was retired by the Federal Government, along with all other former military ministers, governors and administrators. He later became a director of First Interstate Bank.