One interesting story about the 2015 elections which many didn’t know is that Nigerians might get to witness the swearing in of the first elected female governor in Nigeria as history beckons Senator Aisha Jummai Al-Hassan.
Born on September 16, 1959, Senator Aisha Al-Hassan (56years) is a Nigerian politician who was elected Senator for the Taraba North constituency of Taraba State, Nigeria in the April 2011 Federal elections when she ran under the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
She however dumped the ruling party for the APC in which she clinched the Taraba state governorship ticket at the APC primaries in the state with a landslide victory of 2425 votes as other candidates Ibrahim Tumba, Dr Julde S & Yusuf polling 18, 5, and 14 votes respectively.
This victory saw Senator Alhassan become the first female to clinch the governorship ticket under the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC), in Taraba State.
Senator Aisha Jummai Alhassan, APC governorship candidate in Taraba state
Senator Aisha Jummai Alhassan
The success story of Senator Alhassan has been nothing but exceptional as in January 2011 PDP primaries, she defeated the incumbent Senator, former Ambassador Manzo Anthony. It was said that she was a protégé of former Governor Jolly Nyame, who wanted her to defeat Manzo, thinking he could then defeat her. However, after winning the primaries Jummai ran an energetic election campaign, managing to gain Christian support despite the fact that she herself was indeed, a Muslim.
Soon enough, her hardwork paid off greatly when in the April 9, 2011 elections, Jummai won 114,131 votes, followed by Jolly Nyame of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), now All Progressives Congress (APC), with 92,004 votes. She was one of four women elected on the PDP ticket, the others being Nkechi Nwaogu of Abia Central, Helen Esuene from Akwa Ibom South and Nenadi Usman from the Kaduna South senatorial constituency.
However, Senator Jummai looks to be running a stronger race this year as she faces a grim test in her quest to make history. Senator Jummai will square up against former Minister of State for Niger Delta Affairs, Darius Ishaku of the PDP, and David Kente of the Social Democratic Party (SDP), a retired Director of Finance from the National Assembly, at the governorship poll.
If she ends up winning come April 11, Senator Jummai will be the first ever elected female governor of Nigeria.
A Senator Jummai victory will however not see her become the first female governor in Nigeria but the first elected female governor of Nigeria.
Why because? On November 3, 2006, Dame Virgy Etiaba, was sworn in as the Governor of Anambra State, making her the first female Governor in Nigeria following the impeachment of Governor Peter Gregory Obi.
However, a victory for Senator Jummai will supersede Dame Etiaba’s record.
Senator Aisha Jummai’s success also caught the attention of the APC presidential candidate, General Muhammadu Buhari who earlier this month urged the Taraba State indigenes to support the APC governorship candidate in the state.
Buhari made the remarks in a series of tweets on his official Twitter page to commemorate the International Women’s Day marked across the world on Sunday, March 9.
Over the years, there have been calls for the empowerment of women in the country and to a reasonable extent, these calls seem to have been gradually embraced by the government.
This is evident in Senator Alhassan success story which has been quite encouraging so far. If elected, Senator Aisha Jummai Alhassan would have set the pace for other women on the political arena to follow suit. Her victory is an indication that with hard work and the employ of fair play, women can achieve their dreams in all spheres of life.
Will the people of Taraba and Nigeria at large witness the swearing in of the first elected female Governor in Nigeria? Time will certainly tell!
