Women in 2015 governorship race

Women, who claim to have the capacity to make great difference in governance, have declared their intention to contest for governorship election next year, Fisayo Falodi writes

Many women have declared their intention to contest for the 2015 governorship election in their respective states. They have, in a manner that could be described as an attempt to prove to the menfolk that they possess the robust capacity to manage both human and material resources, pushed their ambition in a way that suggest that they mean business.

The women have, at various fora, promised to provide impactful governance for the people if elected governors.

The women governorship aspirants have held consultations with relevant stakeholders as one of the major steps to realise their ambition.

Going by the way they have been pushing their ambition, they seem to have rejected an old practice in which women were allotted deputy governorship position in the country. Among the few women elected deputy governors in the past, Lady Virgy Etiaba became the Anambra State governor by providence after her principal, Mr. Peter Obi, was impeached by the state House of Assembly, but she returned to her office as the deputy governor when the court nullified Obi’s impeachment.

Former deputy governors such as Mrs. Pauline Tallen of Plateau State and Kofoworola Bucknor-Akerele of Lagos State had attempted to become elected governors of their respective states in the past, but lost the elections to their male counterparts.

Pundits are, however, of the view that the governorship aspirants for the 2015 election are determined to push their ambition through as a result of their experience and academic pedigree.

The pundits believe that the determination might have prompted the Peoples Democratic Party to organise a one-day workshop for women contesting elective offices on its platform.

According to a recent statement by the PDP National Publicity Secretary, Mr. Olisa Metuh, the workshop was meant to equip the women with the capacity to fully participate in its forthcoming primaries ahead of the 2015 general elections.

Among the women seeking to become governors next year are Gbemisola Saraki, Kwara State; Ngozi Olojeme, Delta State; Roseline Chenge, Benue; Helen Al-Hassan, Taraba State; Helen Esuene, Akwa Ibom State and Abieatedoghu Bob-Abbey Hart, Rivers State.

Senator Gbemisola Saraki

Gbemisola Saraki was born in 1965 and studied at the University of Sussex, the United Kingdom where she obtained Bachelor of Science degree in Economics. Gbemisola began her political career in 1999 when she was elected as a member of the House of Representatives. She was also elected senator to represent Kwara Central Senatorial District in 2003 and re-elected in 2007.

She, however, faced a major political challenge during the 2011 general elections when she contested on the platform of the Allied Congress Party of Nigeria to succeed her biological brother, Bukola Saraki, as the Kwara State governor after she, alongside her late father, Chief Olusola Saraki, dumped the PDP for ACPN, but lost the poll to the PDP candidate.

Gbemisola recently rekindled her dream to rule Kwara State when she said her decision was informed by calls from family members, friends and members of the PDP who, she said, were convinced about her capacity to lead the state to greater future.

“Thus, in obedience to their clarion calls, and a personal conviction that Kwara State can be better governed, I have decided to offer myself to the service of the good people of Kwara State,” she said in a letter of intent addressed to the PDP secretariat in the state.

Pundits believe that her influence in the Kwara PDP facilitated the emergence of Akogun Iyiola Oyedepo as the state chairman of the party in last week’s congress.

But if Gbemisola gets the PDP ticket in the party’s forthcoming primary, she may still face another battle like that of the 2011 as Bukola, who is now the chieftain of the ruling All Progressives Congress in the state, would not want his party to lose the next governorship poll.