Women That Will Make Tinubu’s Cabinet

By Marsha Owoicho

The jostling for political office in the incoming administration of Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu is reaching a crescendo. Feverish meetings over the last two weeks since Tinubu returned from his vacation in France have centred around who will make his cabinet. No names have been mentioned but there are indications that some major political actors in the current dispensation will play in the Presidency. Much of the attention has been on the men likely to feature in the cabinet and work in the Tinubu Presidency. But the president elect has mentioned that he will run an inclusive government that promises affirmative action for women and youths.

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? Our sources indicate that while few will make it as Ministers, many will play as cabinet-level special advisers and others as senior special assistants and special assistants. Still there is ample room in MDAs to meet Tinubu’s vision and the womenfolk expectations for women engagement.

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.

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 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 trail, 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.

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.

A section of her wikipedia profile reads thusly: ‘Hadiza Bala Usman 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.

BETTA EDU

Betta C. Edu, born October 27,1986, 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 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.

LOLA AKANDE

Mrs Lola Akande may not be visible on the campaign trail but she has been a fixture of the Tinubu regime in Lagos State since 1999. A younger sister of Senator Remi Tinubu, wife of the president-elect, Lola was married to Kolapo Akande who died last year.

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.

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 the president elect. 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.

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 Tunde 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.

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.

DR. 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, PhD, 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, she was active in the  social worker, Aishat Alubankudi is a social media influencer using her platforms in promoting good governance, human rights, and political discourse. She was at

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.

ZAINAB ABUBAKAR IBRAHIM

The Deputy National Women Leader.

ZAINAB BUBA MARWA

Zainab was the Assistant National Youth spokesperson for the APC Presidential Campaign Council.

SENATOR BINTA MASI

Masi is a former Senator representing Adamawa North Senatorial District, who played an active role in the campaign.

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. Earlier, Binani polled 430 votes to beat former Governor Jibrilla Bindow who had 103 votes and pioneer EFCC chairman Nuhu Ribadu, who secured 288 votes, at the party’s primary.