Binani beats Ribadu, ex-Governor Bindow, 4 other men
By Jeph Ajobaju, Chief Copy Editor
Senator Aishatu Binani has defeated six male contestants to pick the governorship ticket of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Adamawa, now the second state in the North East to field a woman for the job on the platform of a major party.
Binani, who represents Adamawa Central in the Senate, saw off challenges from former Adamawa Governor Jibrilla Bindow, former Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) Chairman Nuhu Ribadu, and four other men.
She scored 430 votes in the APC primaries in Yola on Friday. Ribadu got 288 and Bindow 103.
Binani will, in the ultimate contest in February 2023, face Governor Ahmadu Fintiri who won a second term ticket in the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) primaries on Wednesday.
Binani becomes the second female flag bearer of a major political party in Nigeria, after Aisha Alhassan who contested the Taraba governorship under the APC in 2015.
Alhassan lost the ballot to Ishaku Darius of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). She also lost her appeal both at the Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court.
She was appointed Women Affairs Minister by President Muhammadu Buhari. She resigned in 2018 to rerun for Taraba Governor but the APC did not clear her for the primaries. She died in May 2021.
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Related articles:
Taraba poll: Aisha Alhassan on the cusp of history
Why Buhari’s loyalists want Alhassan to resign
APC refuses to clear Adebayo Shittu, Aisha Alhassan for primaries
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Slight difference between Binani and Etiaba
If elected, Binani will become the first female Governor in the North, and the second the entire North and South after Virginia Etiaba who was Anambra Governor for four months, from November 2006 to February 2007.
Etiaba served in the post during the period Governor Peter Obi was impeached by the legislature for alleged misconduct. She handed the reins of power back to Obi three months later when the Appeal Court nullified the impeachment.
Etiaba was the first female Governor in Nigeria ever, appointed or elected, but she was a member of a minor political party, the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA).
If Binani beats Fintiri in the 2023 vote, the difference will be that she is a member of a major political party.
Binani’s brief bio
Aishatu Dahiru Ahmed, also known as Aishatu Binani, was born on 11 August 1971.
She studied at University of Southampton in the United Kingdom where she obtained a Higher National Diploma in Electrical Engineering, according to Wikipedia.
She was a member of the House of Representatives (Yola North/Yola South/Girei Federal Constituency) under the PDP between 2011 and 2015.
She is now a member of the APC and currently Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) Senate Committee Chairman.
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