Minister of State, Labour and Employment, Festus Keyamo, has
reacted to the announcement of the All Progressives Congress, APC, candidate,
Aisha Dahiru, popularly known as Binani, as the winner of the Adamawa State
Governorship election.
The Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC,
Resident Electoral Commissioner of Adamawa, Prof Hudu Yunus Ari had declared
Aisha Dahiru the winner of the state governorship election midway into the
collation.
Nigerians have continued to react to the announcement on
social media, worrying that the development could erode democracy.
But reacting to the yet controversial news on his Twitter
page, Keyamo described Aisha’s victory as a glass-shattering watershed for
Nigerian women.
He wrote, “Just woke up in the US to this wonderful news. I
am screaming my head off here! This is such a glass-shattering watershed for
the women of Nigeria! Huge congratulations to my sister, Senator Aishatu Dahiru
Ahmed (Binani). At a point in the struggle, we were speaking like a dozen times
a day on phone! Special thanks to all those who worked so hard for this;
special thanks to the good people of Adamawa State for smashing this hoodoo of
gender bias; special thanks to the APC for making this possible; special thanks
to President Muhammadu Buhari for providing such sterling leadership; special
thanks to Nigerians for your support and prayers! Now, for the women of
Nigeria, please go ye forth and conquer!”
Despite the inconclusive collation of results, Aisha Binani
has become the first female elected governor in Nigeria by the INEC
pronouncement.
Virginia Ngozi Etiaba of Anambra was the first woman to
serve as governor of a Nigerian state in 2006 but she was not elected.
She had taken over the state’s affairs after Governor, Peter
Obi, was impeached by the state legislature for alleged gross misconduct.
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