In the next few weeks, Asiwaju Tinubu will be announcing some key positions in his government. Now that the inauguration has come and gone, new faces will make up Tinubu’s Cabinet. While some are jostling for positions, some had already held down top positions within the party. As Tinubu has emphasized that he will run an inclusive government where women will be prominent, this set of women will be holding special positions in the affairs of the running of the country while some will serve as one of his very close aides.
Recall that, In campaigning for the presidency, the manifesto “Renewed Hope 2023 – Action Plan for a Better Nigeria” promised to increase women participation in the next administration across ministries departments and agencies (MDAs).
Tinubu has walked this road before. As governor of Lagos between 1999 and 2007 his administration is on record to have appointed women as commissioners, special advisers and heads of agencies, a tradition that has continued and made Lagos one of the most women friendly states in Nigeria.
In March, in a special statement after his election, Tinubu said: “There shall be young people. Women shall be prominent. Whether your faith leads you to pray in a church or mosque will not determine your place in government. Character and competence will.” So, who are the likely women that will be in the Tinubu Presidency? Citypeople Society Editor, TAYO OYEDIJI chronicles the list of some top powerful women who will make Tinubu’s cabinet.
BETTA EDU
Betta C. Edu was born in October 27,1986. This medical doctor and former commissioner for health in Cross River State, was both the face of youth and women. She traversed the length and breadth of Nigeria for the Tinubu campaign and in the process showed that she was all beauty and brains. Elected National Women Leader of the ruling APC in 2022, in March 2022, she is seen as a very potential player in the next administration.She graduated from the University of Calabar and is a Physician and Public Health Specialist, member of the Presidential Health Reform Committee and also of the All Progressives Congress (APC) Reconciliation Committee. In May 2016, she was appointed pioneer DG of Cross River State Primary Health Care Agency until 2019, when she was appointed Cross River State Commissioner for Health.
MARY EKPERE ETA
Mary Ekpere-Eta is a Nigerian Barrister and activist. She is Director General of the National Centre for Women Development (NCWD) in Abuja. Mary Eta is a lawyer, farmer and fellow of the Chartered Institute of Taxation of Nigeria. In 2012 she made a bid to become Governor of Cross River State. She is a representative of South-South women on the board of trustees of the All Progressives Congress (APC).President Buhari appointed Ekpere-Eta as Director General of NCWD in April 2017. She was the opponent of the present national women leader, Betta Edu.
LOLA AKANDE
Lola Akande may not be visible on the campaign train but she has been a fixture of the Tinubu regime in Lagos State since 1999. She is a younger sister of Senator Remi Tinubu, wife of Asiwaju Ahmed Tinubu. Lola was married to Kolapo Akande who died few years ago.
Lola Akande holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Botany from the University of Ife, Master’s degree in Public Administration with a bias for Public Policy and PDGE from the University of Lagos, Akoka.
She was a member of Lagos State House of Assembly from 2007 to 2015 holding the positions of Deputy Majority Leader and Deputy Chief Whip at various times. She was the Commissioner, Women Affairs and Poverty Alleviation from 2015 to 2019 and was appointed Commissioner for Commerce, Industry and Cooperatives in 2019, a portfolio she still holds.
JUMOKE OKOYA THOMAS
Olajumoke Okoya-Thomas is a member of the Federal House of Representatives of Nigeria. She is also the women’s leader of The All Progressive Congress in Lagos.She is a member of the All Progressives Congress party and represents the Lagos Island I Federal Constituency of Lagos State.The daughter of late Chief Molade Okoya-Thomas, the Asoju Oba of Lagos, was born on 20 January 1957. She has a diploma in Senior Managers in Government from the University of Lagos and a diploma in sec. admin from Burleigh College.
Olajumoke Okoya-Thomas assumed office on 29 April 2011 for third consecutive term at the federal house of representatives. Her legislative interests is primarily on the Social Development of Women and Children.She is currently the Chairman of the committee on Public Procurement and also a member of committees on Banking & Currency, Diaspora, Niger Delta and Women in parliament.She was the former Chairman of the house committee of prisons.
DAYO BENJAMIN LANIYI
She is as popular as her brand, Dayo Benjamins-Laniyi a.k.a DBL is in a class of her own. As a media entrepreneur, she is often profiled as Nigeria’s No.1 Female Master of Ceremony. Her spontaneity of language and expository style of delivery have earned her the highest commendations in the industry and seen her host some of the most distinguished events in Africa and abroad. Dayo is a singular persona brand whose speakership extends to advocacy with youth, women, politics, the faith arena and Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) initiatives.
She is a politician, yes, she also ran for FCT senator seat at the last elections. She is the wife of the pastor Tunde Benjamins Laniyi, the lead pastor of Redeemed Christian Church of God, Throne room parish in Abuja where she co pastor as well.. She belongs to the All Progressives Congress party, APC. She is well loved amongst her contemporaries and has become a model mentor for aspiring young women who want to dominate their space hence become a voice in whatever they do. This pretty woman is very close to Senator Remi Tinubu, the wife of the APC Presidential Candidate, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu and she represents her at most events.
For senator Tinubu to be represented by Dayo Benjamins Laniyi strikes a cord of close friendship between the two. We scooped that there is a robust relationship between the duo, they are also pastors in the same church, RCCG. While senator Remi Tinubu has been at the senate for many years, Dayo Ben Laniyi who is also a politician has been a card carrying member of same party and she is also close to the corridors power having lived all her life in Abuja. These and more have drawn them closer and positions her as one of the women who will make Tinubu’s cabinet..
HADIZA USMAN
Hadiza Bala Usman was the deputy director-general (administration) of the APC Presidential Campaign Council. A graduate of Business Administration and development studies from Ahmadu Bello University and Leeds University, she has worked in high profile jobs as Chief of Staff to Governor Nasir El Rufai of Kaduna State and subsequently as Managing Director of the Nigerian Ports Authority.
An activist who was very active in the Bring Back Our Girls campaign for the kidnapped Chibok girls, she comes from an aristocratic and politically active family. She was born on 2 January 1976 in Zaria to a Fulani ruling class family of the Sullubawa clan. Her father, Yusufu Bala Usman, the grandson of Sarkin Katsina Muhammadu Katsina Dikko, was a prominent academic and historian. He later founded the Centre for Democratic Development, Research and Training in Zaria. Her great grandfather, Abdullahi Bayero (father to her paternal grandmother), was the 10th Emir of Kano from 1926 to 1953, her paternal grandfather was the Durbin Katsina, her grand uncle was Usman Nagogo the Emir of Katsina and her great grandfather was Sarkin Katsina Muhammadu Dikko (father to her paternal grandfather). She is very well connected in political circles and only recently published her biography, bashing the immediate past Minister of Transportation Rotimi Amaechi who sacked her from her job as NPA MD.
ADEJOKE ORELOPE-ADEFULIRE
Orelope-Adefulire who is currently President Muhammadu Buhari’s Senior Special Assistant on Sustainable Development Goals, comes from a politically sagacious family that has given her a leverage in Lagos politics under the leadership of Tinubu.
She has been in the Tinubu political ecosystem since 1999 in various positions culminating in the position of Deputy Governor to Governor Babatunde Raji Fashola between 2011 and 2015.
RINSOLA ABIOLA
Rinsola Abiola was one of the commanders of the Tinubu campaign foot soldiers who played a visible role in the push for the Tinubu presidency.A former Assistant on New Media to the then Speaker, House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara, Rinsola who is a daughter of the late Chief MKO Abiola, winner of the annulled June 12 1993 presidential election, was a visible face in the Tinubu campaign to push out the women and youth vote. She was national coordinator of the Progressive Sisters Network (PSN), a pro-Tinubu campaign group.
ABIKE DABIRI EREWA
Abike Dabiri Erewa is currently the Chairman of Nigeria Diaspora Commission. She has been a member of the Tinubu political ecosystem since she was elected member of the House of Representatives with the support of the president elect in 2003. She was reelected in 2007 and 2011. In 2015 she joined the Buhari presidency.
She holds a BA in English, PGD in Mass Communication, MSc in Mass Communication and was an accomplished broadcaster before joining politics. A staunch loyalist of Tinubu who has distinguished herself in her role in the Diaspora Commission, Abike is expected to play a role in the Tinubu presidency as she is doing now, even bigger according to sources.
HANATU MUSA
Hannatu Musa Musawa is a lawyer, poet, intellectual and activist, who served as the deputy spokesperson of the APC Presidential Campaign Council for the Tinubu/Shettima presidential campaign. She is an indigene of Katsina State.
Hannatu is considered a triple asset to the campaign and the Tinubu team – brains, beauty and activism. She attended the University of Buckingham, United Kingdom from where she graduated with a degree in law. Hannatu also holds a Masters Degree in the Legal Aspects of Marine Affairs and another from the University of Aberdeen, Scotland where she obtained a Postgraduate Masters Degree in Oil and Gas Law. She is a Barrister and Solicitor of the Supreme Court of Nigeria, ‘who has had a varied and rich working experience including working as a Litigation lawyer and legal advisor to private Companies and Federal Government of Nigeria’. She is also a human and women’s rights activist who has ‘dedicated a department in her law firm just for Pro Bono legal assistance and representation to women who are victims of violence and abuse of every kind including victims of rape,’ according to her biography. A politician since 2003, she contested for the position of a member of the Federal House of Representatives in Katsina State of Nigeria in 2011.
SENATOR MRS MARGERY OKADIGBO
The widow of the former Senate President Dr Chuba Okadigbo, was the Anambra campaign coordinator for the Tinubu Shettima presidential campaign team. Though campaigning in the home state of the Labour Party candidate Peter Obi, Margery Okadigbo was very visible on the campaign train working to sell the candidacy of Tinubu Shettima to the the people of Anambra State.
A politician with a rich resume as a lawyer and training from some well known institutions around the world such as University of Nigeria, George Washington University, Harvard University, Georgetown University and University of Chicago, Mrs Okadigbo is currently the Chairman of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited. She represented Anambra North senatorial District as a Federal Republic of Nigeria senator from 2011- 2015 on the platform of the PDP before defecting to the APC.
STELLA OKOTETE
Stella Okotete is the immediate past National Women Leader of the APC. She was a member of the APC presidential campaign council as well as of the All Progressives Congress caretaker extraordinary convention planning committee.
Okotete who is an executive director of NEXIM, is considered a very influential voice for the election of Tinubu and a potential appointee of Tinubu. She is a graduate of Benson Idahosa University, Benin City, where she earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in International Studies and Diplomacy. She also holds a Diploma in Law from the Rivers State College of Arts and Sciences, a Master’s degree in Public Administration and a Master’s Degree in Peace and Conflict Resolution.
UJU KENNEDY OHANENYE
Uju Kennedy Ohanenye was a presidential aspirant on the platform of the APC and stepped down for Tinubu on the day of the primary. She thereafter became Vic Chairman of the APC Presidential campaign council for the Southeast. Uju is a lawyer, entrepreneur and filmmaker.
- ASABE VILITA BASHIR
A political activist from Borno State, Dr Bashir is a member of the House of Representatives, representing the Gwoza, Chibok and Damboa Federal Constituencies in Borno State. She was an active campaigner for the Tinubu campaign and is seen as a close loyalist of the VP elect, Kashim Shettima.
Dr ZARA ONYINYE
Queen Zara Onyinye, Ph.D, from Anambra State was a Deputy Youth Coordinator for the Tinubu campaign. A very active social media campaigner for the APC, she is seen as an unrepentant Buharist and BATist (Bola Ahmed Tinubu supporter).
AISHAT ALUBANKUDI
Based in London, Aishat Alubankudi is a social media influencer using her platforms in promoting good governance, human rights, and political discourse. She was a prominent female campaigner for General Muhammadu Buhari before the 2015 elections and the re-election in 2019. She was also very active in the Tinubu/Shettima Campaign team serving in the Social Media Directorate as well as various committees of the Tinubu/Shettima Women Presidential Campaign Team.
SENATOR AISHA DAHIRU BINANI
Senator Aisha Binani is a current senator representing Adamawa State and the APC candidate for Governor. Despite the shenanigans that featured in the governorship election, she is regarded as a formidable politician with a strong support base in Adamawa State. The fact that the election was not concluded on the first voting day on March 18th but went into a supplementary poll proves this point. She lost her gubernatoral elections.
ZAINAB ABUBAKAR IBRAHIM
Haj. Zainab Abubakar Ibrahim was born on 3rd August 1972 into the famous family of Alhaji Abubakar Ibrahim (OON) Sarki Ayyuka, a second republic political icon in the old Gongola state, present day Taraba State. He was a founding member and state leader of the defunct National Republican Convention (NRC) in the aborted third republic. The family has produced two senators in the persons of the late Senator Abdulaziz. Abrahim and late Senator Aisha Alhassan, a former minister of the federal republic and the scion of the Alhaji Abubakar Ibrahim political dynasty. Fondly called MAMA TARABA by her admirers, Aisha Alhassan has remained a strong voice not only on women advocacy, but also on major topical issues on national importance towards the political evolution of the country. Given Haj. Zainab Abubakar Ibrahim’s political pedigree and her commitment/devotion towards the APC, her election as the Deputy National Women Leader during the 27th March 2022 APC National Convention did not come to keen political observers and stakeholders as a surprise.
Riding on the crest of a well engineered political structure as represented by her family, Dr Zainab Abubakar Ibrahim has obviously carved out a niche for herself which will continue to resonate within the entire political spectrum and given her youthful age, robust resume, intelligence, reach, experience and exposure, she is well prepared for higher responsibilities.
ZAINAB BUBA MARWA
Zainab was the Assistant National Youth spokesperson for the APC Presidential Campaign Council. She is one of the daughters of the Chairman of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, Brig. Gen. Buba Marwa (retd.). She championed a door-to-door campaign for the victory of All Progressives Congress presidential candidate, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, at the elections. She was part of the transition committee.
SENATOR BINTA MASI
Masi is a former Senator representing Adamawa North Senatorial District, who played an active role in the campaign.
She served the Federal House of Representatives three times, from 1999 to 2011. She is the first politician to represent two different Federal constituencies in 2009; she was elected as the first Vice President of Commonwealth Women Parliamentarians (CWP) under Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (CPA) in Cameroon. She is the only female Senator-elect in all the 19 Northern States of Nigeria in 2015 elections. She was also, the only female delegate from Adamawa State to the National Conference in Abuja.
She was appointed the Woman Leader of the PDP. She later joined All Progressives Congress (APC) alongside Governor Murtala Nyako and other Governors. She contested and emerged as the chairman of the Adamawa State Chapter of APC. The victory at the poll made her the first female state chairman of a registered major political party in Nigeria.
-TAYO OYEDIJI
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