The journey of women in Nigeria’s politics has been rough, thorny and tortuous with lots of ups and downs. Many women in politics have been through all manner of humiliation, discrimination, tagging among others, but have persevered.
While some got elected into various offices, others got appointed into ministerial and other positions.
Despite that, women participation and involvement in politics has been far from impressive, with only a few women managing to hold their own in the difficult terrain.
Between 1999 when democracy returned to Nigeria and now, there have been a few women whose participation and achievement in the entrenchment of democracy in the country has been sterling but many of them seem to be missing in action in the current dispensation.
While it is true that age is no longer on the side of many of them and could be a factor for their seeming disappearance from the political scene, same cannot be said of their male counterparts, who though aged, are still keeping it real politically.
Where are these women and what are they up to as the country heads into another season of electioneering.
Margaret Icheen
She made history when she became the first female speaker of any legislature in Nigeria and in West Africa, after her election as Speaker of the Benue State House of Assembly on May 31, 1999.
Despite this great feat, she soon fell out with her colleagues in the male-dominated house after she got the police to arrest all the offending colleagues for “playing pranks” with public assets.
She was said to have survived five impeachment attempts before she was allegedly forced to resign her position as speaker in protest against neck-deep corrupt practices by lawmakers.
Icheen who has remained in the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) was appointed a federal commissioner at the Federal Character Commission (FCC) representing Benue State and was in 2019, appointed member of a committee to investigate the roles played by some of its members during the election of presiding officers of the National Assembly.
Not much has, however, been heard from Icheen who is currently the chairman of the Benue State Football Association (BSFA), as it concerns politics.
Dame Virgy Etiaba
Dame Virgy Etiaba made history when she became the first female governor in Nigeria, after she succeeded Peter Obi of Anambra State after his unceremonious removal from office.
A former educationist who also served as commissioner in the state before becoming deputy governor to Obi, she transferred powers back to Obi after serving as governor from November 2006 to February 2007, following his reinstatement.
Even though now aged, since her tenure of office ended, not much has been heard from her politically.
Patricia Etteh
In the category of history makers, having been the first female Speaker of the Nigerian House of Representatives, she was first elected to the House in 1999 on the platform of AD and elected Chief Whip. In 2002, she decamped to the PDP on whose platform she was re-elected to the House in 2003 and elected Deputy Majority Chief Whip of the House; a position she held from 2003 to 2007, alongside being the Leader of the South West Caucus in the National Assembly.
In 2007, she was re-elected and became the first female Speaker of the House on June 5, 2007.
Her reign would however turn stormy as in September 2007, she faced a committee over accusations that she had authorised the spending of N628 million on renovations of her official residence and that of her deputy, and the purchase of 12 official cars meant for the House of Representatives.
Attempts by Etteh to defend herself in the male- dominated house were unsuccessful as chants of “thief” rent the air, even though she had yet to be officially indicted and she had to be led out by security operatives.
Like Icheen, Etteh resigned her position on 30 October, alongside her deputy, Babangida Nguroje, even though she enjoyed the backing of her party, the PDP, till the end.
She was later exonerated of any wrongdoing at the last sitting of the 6th session of the House where it was agreed that there was no record or proceedings of the House where she was ever indicted.
Etteh, 68, is currently the board chairman of the National Hospital Abuja but beyond that, not much is known about her politically.
Patricia Akwashiki
Patricia Naomi Akwashiki came into national politics following her election into the 5th Assembly as member of House of Representatives on the platform of PDP in 2003. At the end of that Assembly in 2007, she defected to the All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP) after failing to secure the PDP ticket, and was eventually elected Senator representing Nasarawa North Senatorial District in 2007.
In January 2010, she returned to the PDP, citing injustice and insensitivity of the ANPP national secretariat and factional infighting in the state chapter of the party.
In March 2015, President Jonathan appointed Akwashiki Minister of Information, shortly before his tenure ended.
Akwashiki came into prominence again in 2018, when she declared her intention to run for governor of Nasarawa State, predicting that she would be Nigeria’s first elected female governor. She, however, failed to secure the party’s ticket to run in the general election in 2019 and has remained quiet since then.
Maryam Inna Ciroma
If there is one woman whose name resonates loudly anywhere the PDP is mentioned, that woman is Maryam Inna Ciroma.
An active member of the party, in 2003, Ciroma made a bid to become the PDP candidate for Borno South Senatorial District but was unsuccessful.
She was appointed Minister of State for Women Affairs in July 2005 and in August 2005, started a nationwide advocacy tour of the 36 states on matters relating to child’s rights and discrimination against women. She remained a strong voice for women and children and ahead of the 2007 elections, led campaigns for women inclusion in politics by reserving positions for them.
After leaving office, Ciroma became National Woman Leader of the PDP after which she served as Managing Director of National Inland Waterways Authority (NIWA).
She is a member of the national working group for Supporting the Advance of Gender Equality (SAGE) Initiative in Nigeria and attended a meeting hosted by President Muhammadu Buhari on March 23, 2021 to mark the International Women’s Day in Nigeria.
She is still a member of the PDP, lending her voice to gender mainstreaming issues within the party but not much is heard about her on the national political scene.
Ireti Kingibe
Hajia Habeebah Ireti Kingibe, apart from being the wife of Ambassador Babagana Kingibe, a former Secretary to the Federal Government, is famed for her passion for the people of the FCT which has led her to on many occasions seek to represent them in the legislature.
She has been active in FCT politics since 2003 when she was the senatorial candidate of the ANPP for the FCT. She lost that election but didn’t relent and contested again in 2006 and 2011 under the PDP and in 2015 under the APC.
Sadly, she wasn’t lucky to go beyond the primaries stage between 2006 and 2015 but remained active in the APC in the FCT since 2015.
In 2018, she gave another shot at the senatorial seat but again, lost the ticket to former AMAC chairman, Zephaniah Jisalo.
Though a known supporter of President Buhari, she has not been very visible on the political scene, even as momentum gathers for the 2023 general elections.
Khairat Abdulrazaq-Gwadabe
A true definition of beauty and brains, Khairat Abdulrazaq-Gwadabe made her mark as one of the women to reckon with in politics, especially in the northern part of the country.
Born in 1962, she was elected Senator representing the FCT at the start of the Fourth Republic on the platform of the PDP between 1999 and 2003.
She re-contested the seat in 2003 but lost at the primaries stage and later moved to the ANPP, citing unfair treatment by the PDP. Her travails in the PDP were said to be linked to her support for a move to impeach then President Obasanjo.
In 2018, she was one of the contenders for the APC senatorial ticket in the FCT but was unsuccessful in the bid.
Gwadabe who is a sister to Kwara State governor, AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq, remained in her cocoon until recently when she was nominated as a member of the 61-member APC national revalidation/registration appeal committee but has remained largely quiet, as her nomination to the committee itself stirred some controversy within the party in the state.
She runs a non-governmental organisation, Women Widows.
Stella Omu
The list of women who strode through the country’s legislature and left a mark will not be complete without the mention of Senator Stella Omu.
A member of the PDP board of trustees, she was a senator between 1999 and 2003, representing Delta-south constituency. While in the Senate, she was appointed chief whip and was also vice-chairman of the Senate Committees on National Planning, Women Affairs & Youth Development.
She became famous for causing a stir in the Senate in 2001 after she raised the alarm about a letter she allegedly received bearing the logo of the Federal Ministry of Communications and containing suspicious powdery substance.
The said substance was suspected to be anthrax, an agent of biological terrorism. Letters containing anthrax had before then been reported in United States after the 11 September 2001 terrorist attack.
Omu would later move the motion for the amendment of the constitution and voluntarily resigned as Senate chief whip, citing the acrimonious relationship with the leadership of the Senate.
Ever since, not much has been heard about her, even though she is still a member of the PDP.
Zainab Kure
Though she is believed to be one of those women who rode on the crest of their husband’s to political limelight, Senator Zainab Kure is one woman who holds her own any day.
She was elected Senator for the Niger South constituency of in 2007 on the platform of the PDP, after eight years of service as first lady of the state.
She was re-elected in 2011 but lost a third re-election bid in 2015 to her APC opponent.
In September 2018, Senator David Mark, a Presidential candidate, appointed Kure as director-general of his campaign.
She has been less visible on the political scene since then, especially after the death of her husband, Abdulkadir Kure who served as Niger state governor between 1999 and 2007, and died in 2017, but was recently nominated as member of the PDP BoT representing North Central geopolitical zone.
Binta Masi Garba
Binta Masi Garba is a woman of many firsts. She made history as the first politician in Nigeria to represent two different federal constituencies in two states.
Born and raised in Kaduna, she ventured into politics in 1998 and contested for the House of Representatives seat for Kaduna South Federal Constituency and won the election. She was re-elected in 2003 and represented the people again till 2007.
The then Adamawa State Governor Boni Haruna wooed her to return to her state of origin and contest elections there, which she obliged and was elected for the third time to the House in 2007, this time representing Madagali/Michika Federal Constituency on the PDP ticket. In 2011, she contested again but wasn’t lucky the fourth time.
She remained active in her party, the PDP till 2013 when the party, in the build up to the 2015 general election, was enmeshed in crisis and a new faction emerged, known as the nPDP which she pitched tent with and was appointed woman leader. She later joined the APC and was elected the Adamawa chairman of the party.
She later got a waiver to contest the senatorial seat in the party primaries and she went ahead to win the election in 2015.
In 2019, she sought to return to the Senate but was stopped at the polls by her opponent and remained under the radar till March 2020 when she was appointed board member of the Nigeria Ports Authority (NPA) but was unceremoniously removed 10 months later.
Mulikat Akande–Adeola
A lawyer by training, Mulikat Akande–Adeola was elected into the House of Representatives on the platform of the PDP in 2007, representing Ogbomosho North, South and Orire federal constituency of Oyo State. She was re-elected in 2011 and was one of the contenders for the position of Speaker of the House.
Akande-Adeola lost to Aminu Waziri Tambuwal but later emerged House Leader after months of political stalemate which pitched her against fellow lawmaker from Oyo, Ajibola Muraina, thus becoming the first woman to hold the position since 1999.
She re-contested the seat in 2015 but lost to Labour Party ( LP) candidate, SegunOgunwuyi.
In 2018, she secured the ticket of the PDP to contest the Oyo North senatorial district seat but lost the election to her APC rival.
Even though she remained invisible in the national political space, she was active in the PDP in Oyo state until she fell out with the governor, Seyi Makinde, whose election she worked hard for.
She, sometime back, complained of being used and dumped by the governor, and reportedly said regretted stepping on toes to support him and would act differently if given another opportunity.
Earlier this year, Akande-Adeola raised the alarm that her life was under threat and alleged that some people loyal to the governor had ordered Lamidi Mukaila aka Auxiliary to kill her.
Nenadi Esther Usman
Some say she is brilliant, others say she is lucky but one fact is undisputed, which is that Nenadi Esther Usman was once upon a time one of the most powerful women in Nigeria’s politics.
She began her political career as a member Kaduna State caucus of the defunct National Republican Convention (NRC) and was also a member-elect of the House of Representatives, representing Kachia/Kagarko Federal Constituency under the United Nigeria Congress Party in 1998.
Usman, a two time commissioner in Kaduna state, between 1999 and 2003, was also the coordinator of the Ahmed Makarfi Campaign team in 1999 and she was re-elected campaign committee chairman in 2003. She was also the Kaduna State Coordinator of the Olusegun Obasanjo Campaign Committee.
After Obasanjo’s victory at the poll, she was appointed the Minister of State for Finance and later the Minister of Finance.
In 2011, she was elected Senator representing Kaduna South in on the PDPplatform. In 2014, she lost her bid to return to the senate after failing to secure the party’s ticket at PDP primaries.
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) is prosecuting her in connection with the campaign funding for the failed re-election bid of ex-President Goodluck Jonathan in 2015.
She has been off the politics radar since then.
Saudatu Sani
Kaduna-state born Saudatu Sani is one fiery woman who stands by her convictions and follows causes she believes in
She started her political career at the return of democracy to Nigeria, in Kaduna and was appointed Special Adviser to the wife of the governor. In 2003, she was elected member of the House of Representatives for Lere Federal Constituency of Kaduna State on the PDP platform and re-elected for another term in 2007.
She was appointed Senior Special Assistant on MDGs by President GoodluckJonathan.
After the PDP lost power at the centre, she went off the radar till 2018 when she joined the APC in Kaduna and was appointed board chairman of Kaduna State Contributory Health Management Authority.
Daisy Danjuma
Her presence on the political scene was short but impactful. Daisy Ehanire Danjuma ventured into politics and wasted no time in throwing her hat into the ring in the contest for the Edo South Senatorial seat. She contested and won the election on the Action Congress (AC) platform in 2003. At the end of her tenure in 2007, she sought to be re-elected again in 2011 but was unsuccessful.
The loss of that election in 2011 and subsequent failed attempts to reclaim victory at the tribunal signalled the beginning of her political hiatus as he has remained off the radar.
Danjuma is a member of the PDP BoT.
