Aisha Alhassan

Aisha Jummai Al-Hassan, popularly known as Mama Taraba is a Nigerian politician who was born on the 16 September 1959 in Jalingo[1], Taraba State. She resigned as the Minister of Women Affairs of Nigeria on July 27th, 2018.[2] She was appointed in 2015 to the cabinet of President Muhammadu Buhari after his election.[3] She was previously a Senator, representing Taraba North senatorial district of Taraba State, Nigeria which she won under the platform of the People's Democratic Party (PDP). She later decamped to the main opposition party All Progressive Congress (APC) and became the gubernatorial candidate of the party in Taraba State for the 2015 general elections. She was defeated in the election re-run held on 25 April 2015, but on 7 November 2015 tribunal removes Taraba Governor, Darius Ishaku, declares Aisha Alhassan of the All Progressives Congress winner of April 11, 2015 poll, this was later reversed by the Appeal and Supreme Courts of Nigeria.[4][5]

Aisha Alhassan
Former Federal Minister of Women Affairs
In office
2015–2018
Preceded byHajiya Zainab Maina
Senator for Taraba North
In office
May 2011 – 2015
Preceded byAnthony George Manzo
Succeeded byAbubakar Sani Danladi
Personal details
BornSeptember 16, 1959
Jalingo, Taraba State
NationalityNigerian
Political partyAll Progressive Congress (APC)
ProfessionLawyer
Nickname(s)Mama Taraba

Early life and career

Aisha Jummai Al-Hassan is a Fulani. A lawyer by training, she became the first female to be appointed Taraba State Attorney General and Commissioner of Justice. The first woman to be appointed as Secretary FCT judicial council and later appointed the Chief Registrar of the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja on 17 December 2003. After she retired from service she went into business.[5]

Political career

Senate

In the January 2011 PDP primaries, Jummai defeated the incumbent senator, former Ambassador Manzo Anthony.

In the 9 April 2011 elections, Jummai won 114,131 votes, followed by Jolly Nyame of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) with 92,004 votes.[6] She was one of four women elected on the PDP ticket, the others being Nkechi Nwaogu (Abia Central), Helen Esuene (Akwa Ibom South) and Nenadi Usman (Kaduna South).[7] Following the election, she was said to have been in competition for the Senate President seat.

Gubernatorial candidacy

Alhassan contested the 2015 elections under the Platform of the All Progressive Congress (APC). She lost to the candidate of the People's Democratic Party (PDP) Darius Ishaku.[8]

In November 2015, she was declared the winner of April 2015 Taraba state gubernatorial election, and became the first woman in Nigeria to become a Governor. This judgement was later reversed by the Appeal Court, who stated that APC did not have jurisdiction over the primaries of PDP.[4][9]

She recently resigned from her Federal appointment and decamped to UDP after she was screened out by the ruling party APC from contesting for the Governorship Seat. She was unanimously declared as the candidate for March 2019 Taraba State gubernatorial election under UDP, after the other candidate stepped down in her bid.[10] She later announced her defection back to PDP after the governorship election, which was won again by Darius Ishaku of Peoples Democratic Party, as the Governor of Taraba State.[11][12]

She is widely known as "Mama Taraba", because of her increased influence in the politics of her state.[13]

Personal life

Aisha Jummai's elder brother is former Senator Abdulazeez Ibrahim[14] from 1999-2007. She actively supports the Taraba State Football Association.[15]

References
  1. Admin (11 November 2011). "Governor's Biography: Meet Aisha Alhassan, Nigeria's First Female Governor". Skynews24. Retrieved 11 March 2019.
  2. "Breaking: Alhassan resigns from Buhari's cabinet to vie for governorship". Vanguard.
  3. Sylvester Ugwuanyi (June 2016). "SGF leads cabinet members to pray for quick recovery of Buhari, three Ministers". dailypost.ng. Retrieved 3 November 2016.
  4. "'Maman Taraba': Is the political battle over?". dailytrust.com.ng. Archived from the original on 2016-11-04. Retrieved 3 November 2016.
  5. Jimmy Enyeh (22 January 2011). "How Aisha Jummai Al-Hassan Won PDP Taraba North Senatorial Primary". National Waves. Retrieved 2011-05-06.
  6. "Collated Senate results". INEC. Archived from the original on 2011-04-19. Retrieved 2011-05-06.
  7. Olusola Balogun (May 1, 2011). "…And the women lost too". Daily Sun. Archived from the original on May 4, 2011. Retrieved 2011-05-06.
  8. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2018-06-18. Retrieved 2018-06-18.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  9. Henry Umoru (May 5, 2011). "Composition of cabinet: Mark joins Jonathan, PDP leaders in Obudu". Vanguard. Retrieved 2011-05-06.
  10. Samson Toromade. "Mama Taraba wins UDP's governorship ticket days after dumping APC". pulseng.com. Retrieved 4 October 2018.
  11. Yusuf, Omotayo (September 14, 2019). "Mama Taraba finally joins Atiku in PDP, gives reasons". legit.ng. Retrieved 20 November 2019.
  12. Ita Abia (September 14, 2019). "Aisha Alhassan decamps to PDP". First Reports. Retrieved 20 November 2019.
  13. Jerrywright Ukwu. "Mama Taraba: Nigeria's Number One Women Leader". naij.com. Retrieved 3 November 2016.
  14. Emmanuel Umaru (18 April 2011). "How Woman Floored Ex-Governor Jolly Nyame In Senate Race". Leadership. Retrieved 2011-05-06.
  15. "Aisha Jummai Alhassan: Redefining the cause of women". Peoples Daily. 5 May 2012. Retrieved 12 June 2012.
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