President Bola Tinubu sent the list of his ministerial nominees to the senate on Thursday; of the 28 names sent, seven of them are women.
This means that women represent 25 percent of the ministerial nominees as currently constituted.
In 2019, former president Muhammadu Buhari also appointed seven women to his cabinet, but they were seven out of 42, representing 17 percent of the total cabinet.
President Tinubu is expected to send a supplementary list to the senate to meet up with necessary constitutional requirements.
Based on analysis of the list sent by the president, Betta Edu, the national women leader of the All Progressive Congress (APC), is the youngest nominee. She is 36 years old.
Uju Ohanenye, APC’s sole female presidential candidate in the June 2022 presidential primaries, also made the list. She stepped down for Tinubu at primaries.
Stella Okotete, the executive director (Business Development) at the Nigeria Export-Import (NEXIM) Bank made the list.
Here is a list of nominated female ministers and a brief profile:
HANNATU MUSAWA
Hannatu Musa Musawa from Katsina state is the recently-appointed special adviser on culture and entertainment economy.
Musawa, who is the daughter of the late Katsina politician, Musa Musawa, is a lawyer, politician and author.
She studied Law at the University of Buckingham, United Kingdom; and holds Master’s degrees in the Legal Aspects of Marine Affairs from the University of Cardiff, Wales; and Oil and Gas Law from the University of Aberdeen, Scotland.
She is also a qualified solicitor in England and Wales, UK; and a member of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators.
BETTA EDU
Betta Edu is from Cross River state and the youngest among the ministerial nominees. She is the national women leader of the All Progressive Congress and a former commissioner of health in Cross River state.
In 2020, she became chairman of the Cross River State COVID-19 Taskforce.
In August 2022, she was appointed National Chairman of the Nigeria Health Commissioners Forum.
STELLA OKOTETE
Okotete holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in International Studies and Diplomacy from Benson Idahosa University.
She also has a Diploma in Law from the Rivers State College of Arts and Sciences. A Master’s degree in Public Administration and Peace Studies and Conflict Resolution.
She is the executive director (Business Development) at the Nigeria Export-Import (NEXIM) Bank. She is 39 years old.
UJU KENNEDY OHANENYE
In the last presidential election, Uju Kennedy Ohaneye from Anambra state was the only female presidential aspirant of the APC, who later stepped down for the President at the primaries.
She is a legal practitioner managing director of Kenuj 02 Mall, Federal Capital Territory and Owerri in Imo State. Ohanenye is married with four children.
DORIS UZOKA-ANITE
Doris is a career banker with over 20 years of experience at Zenith Bank, Nigeria. Despite studying medicine at the University of Benin, she pivoted into banking in 2002.
Uzoka-Anite was a former commissioner for finance and coordinating economy in Imo state. She holds a couple of financial certificates from Oxford University in the United Kingdom.
NKEIRUKA ONYEJEOCHA
Onyejocha was a member of the house of Representatives representing Isuikwuato/Umunneochi federal constituency of Abia State.
She was first elected in 2007 on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), then Nigeria’s ruling party. Onyejeocha defected to the All Progressives Congress (APC) in 2018 after coming under intense pressure from her former party leaders to drop her ambition for a return ticket to the house.
In 2019, she won her re-election bid for a fourth term in Nigeria’s Green Chamber.
IMAAN SULAIMAN-IBRAHIM
Imaan Sulaiman-Ibrahim was the director-general of the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP) from December 1, 2020, till May 27, 2021.
She was a special adviser on strategic communication to the minister of state for education, Chukwuemeka Nwajiuba, and she was appointed a member of the Nasarawa State economic advisory council in 2019.