Tinubu Ministerial List: The 7 Women That Made The List

Here is everything to know about the seven women that made Tinubu’s ministerial list

President Bola Ahmed Tinubu on Thursday, July 27, 2023, officially unveiled his 28-man ministerial list after weeks of speculation.

The Senate President, Godswill Akpabio read the names at Thursday’s plenary. The list was made up of expected names while some surprise names also made the list.

Among the ministerial list is the inclusion of seven women. Recall that Tinubu in his manifesto document had promised to increase women’s representation in government to at least 35% of all government positions.

In this article, FabWoman.ng takes a closer look at the profiles of these women.

1. Dr Betta Edu

Dr. Betta Edu is one name that definitely rings a bell in the political ecosystem. She also boasts a very impressive profile at her young age. Born October 27, 1986, Edu is currently the APC Women leader. She made history in March 2022 when she became the youngest national woman leader of the All Progressives Congress (APC) at age 35.

Before her emergence, she was a special adviser to Governor Benedict Ayade on community and primary health care in 2015 ( also the youngest person to occupy the position) before she rose to become the Director General of Cross River State Primary Health Care Agency and eventually became the Commissioner for Health in the State in 2022. She was also the chairman of the National Chairman of Nigeria Health Commissioners Forum.

In August 2020, she was appointed National Chairman of the Nigeria Health Commissioners Forum. Edu is a Fellow of the Royal School of Public Health and the African Institute of Public Health Professionals.

Her political journey began when she was a student at the University of Calabar. She was the Vice President of the Student Union Government at the university between 2007-2008.

2. Uju Kennedy-Ohanenye

Uju Kennedy came into prominence when she emerged as the APC’s only female presidential aspirant for the 2023 elections.

Kennedy-Ohanenye is a legal practitioner and businesswoman with interests in real estate and estate. She is the Managing Director of Kenuj 02 Mall located in a highbrow area of the Federal Capital Territory and Owerri in Imo State.

She is deeply passionate about the well-being of the underprivileged and people with disabilities. Students, widows, and the less priviledged are among those who have benefited from her philanthropic largesse.

Kennedy-Ohanenye has constructed and outfitted a number of health centers in remote areas across Kogi, Kaduna, Kano, Imo, and Anambra States. She has also donated to skill acquisition centers in some of those states’ rural districts. Although the legal practitioner is a successful businesswoman and philanthropist, she is a political newcomer.

A native of Awka in Anambra State, she is happily married with four children.

3. Nkeiruka Onyejeocha

If there is one name that deserves to be on the list, it is Nkeiruka Onyejeocha.

Born 23 November 1969, the Abia-born politician is a ranking lawmaker in Nigeria’s Federal House of Representatives. Onyejeocha was the Deputy Chief Whip of the House of Representatives until the 2023 elections.

She has sponsored several bills and moved motions that have improved the lives of ordinary citizens and helped safeguard their rights. In 2017 she sponsored a bill that makes emergency treatment of victims of gunshot obligatory and compulsory for hospitals without demanding or delaying treatment to first obtain police reports before commencing treatment in emergency situations. She is also known for sponsoring the bill seeking additional special seats for women in the National Assembly and State Houses of Assembly which passed second reading.

Onyejocha was first elected to Nigeria’s Federal House of Representatives in 2007 on the platform of the People’s Democratic Party, PDP.

After securing a return seat to the house for a fourth term, Onyejocha ran for the speaker of the 9th Assembly of the Nigeria Federal House of Representatives in 2019 and was the only female candidate in the race.

Onyejocha was active in student unionism and politics in her undergraduate days at the University of Nigeria (UNN), Nsukka.

4. Hannatu Musawa

Hannatu Musawa is an attorney and politician. A qualified solicitor in the United Kingdom and also the Supreme Court of Nigeria, Musawa boasts of an impeccable legal profile.

She served as the deputy spokesman for the All Progressives Congress (APC) and only last month (June 2023), she was appointed by Tinubu as the Special Adviser on Culture and Entertainment Economy. She was also the secretary screening committee of the APC for the presidential aspirants.

Katsina State-born Musawa is the daughter of notable Alhaji Musa Musawa.

5. Doris Uzoka-Anite

Dr. (Mrs) Doris Uzoka-Anite was a former Commissioner for Finance and Coordinating Economy, Imo State. She was also the youngest commissioner in the administration of Gov. Hope Uzodinma.

She was also a former General Manager of Zenith Bank Plc. She hails from Oguta LGA of Imo State.

6. Imaan Suleiman-Ibrahim

Born in Jos, Plateau State, Imaan Suleiman-Ibrahim is the daughter of S.K Danladi, an Abuja-based engineer and developer.

At the age of 19, she graduated from the University of Abuja with a degree in sociology. At the age of 21, she received two master’s degrees from Webster University, an MBA and MA.

She was the director-general of the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons, NAPTIP from 1 December 2020 till 27 May 2021, when President Buhari announced a swap and she was redeployed as the Honourable Federal Commissioner of the National Commission for Refugees, Migrants, and Internally Displaced Persons. She spent only six months as DG.

7. Stella Okotete

Born on April 20, 1984, Stella Okotete hails from Ekrerhavwen-Agbarho community in Ughelli North Local Government Area of Delta State.

Okotete attended Benson Idahosa University, Benin City where she bagged a Bachelor of Art in International Studies and Diplomacy in 2006 and a Certificate, in Emerging Leaders from Harvard Kennedy School of Government, Boston, USA 2012.

Okotete has a Master’s degree in Peace Studies and Conflict Resolution from the National Open University of Nigeria and, presently, she is pursuing a Master’s degree in Public Administration.

She was a Special Assistant /Adviser to Governor Emmanuel Uduaghanon Directorate Millennium Development Goals, a position she held from November 2011 to May 2015.

Okotete rose to prominence when President Muhammadu Buhari appointed her as the Executive Director, Business Development, at Nigeria Export-Import, NEXIM, Bank, on April 10, 2017.