The least expected state in Nigeria to present a female candidate for the job of governor is a northern state.
However, the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Adamawa State seems to have taken a less travelled path.
A female Senator, Aisha Dahiru Ahmed Binani defeated six male aspirants and political heavyweights to secure the APC governorship ticket in Adamawa State.
Below are some top facts you may not know about the one female APC governorship candidate as the 2023 general election draws near.
- Aisha was born on 11 August 1971.
- She was formerly a member of the House of Representatives representing the Yola North/Yola South/Girei federal constituency as a member of the People’s Democratic Party between 2011 to 2015.
- She started her political journey in 2011 when she was elected as a House of Representatives member to represent Yola North/Yola South/Girei federal constituency as a member of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
- In the Adamawa APC 2022 gubernatorial primary election, Aisha Binani scored 430 votes, the highest in the election to defeat Nuhu Ribadu, a former presidential aspirant of the Action Congress and pioneer chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), who polled 288 votes. The immediate past governor, Muhammadu Jibrilla Bindow, came third with 103 votes, Abdurrazaq Namda polled 94 votes, while Wafari Theman had 39 votes.
- As at 2022, she is a serving senator of the All Progressives Congress APC representing Adamawa Central senatorial district in the 9th Assembly and served as the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
- Aishatu had her university education in the UK, where she obtained a Higher National Diploma in Electrical Engineering at the University of Southampton.
- Aisha Binani is married to Professor Ahmed Modibbo and they are reportedly blessed with 5 children.
- Aisha Binani founded the Binani Group of Companies. Recently, she led the company to diversify into the nation’s aviation industry which birthed Binani Air.
- On the 14th of October 2022, a federal high court in Yola nullified the candidacy of Binani as the gubernatorial aspirant of the APC in Adamawa.
- In November, 2022, an Appeal Court sitting in Yola, Adamawa State capital, set aside the High Court ruling and ordered Dahiru Binani’s name be submitted to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) as the Adamawa APC governorship candidate.
