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Minister faults Binani’s sack as Adamawa APC guber candidate

By Sodiq Omolaoye, Abuja
17 October 2022   |   3:40 am
Minister of Women Affairs, Pauline Tallen, has faulted the judgment of the Federal High Court nullifying the All Progressives Congress (APC) governorship primary in Adamawa State.

[files] The Minister of Women Affairs and Social Development, Pauline Tallen. [PHOTO CREDIT: Official Instagram page of Pauline Tallen]

• Educational disparity between North, South frightening, says CBN chief

Minister of Women Affairs, Pauline Tallen, has faulted the judgment of the Federal High Court nullifying the All Progressives Congress (APC) governorship primary in Adamawa State.

Speaking to journalists at the sidelines of the first Global Reunion and yearly meeting of the Federal Government Girls’ College, Bida Old Girls Association, in Abuja, at the weekend, the minister lamented the number of female candidates contesting the 2023 general election, which she described as low.

According to Tallen, the ruling that sacked Aishatu Binani, the only female governorship candidate in the country is a ‘kangaroo’ judgment that should be rejected by well-meaning Nigerians.

Binani was elected on May 26 as the APC governorship candidate in the now-nullified primary. She scored 430 votes to defeat her closest rival, Nuhu Ribadu, who polled 288.

After the primary, Ribadu approached the court alleging irregularities in the exercise. In his judgment, the trial judge, Abdulaziz Anka, held that the primary was not in compliance with the 2022 Electoral Act, the nation’s constitution, and the party’s guidelines.

Saying the ruling showed the continued marginalisation of women in politics, the minister added that women were not fairly treated during the primaries conducted by political parties to produce candidates for the 2023 poll.

Tallen said: “It is very worrisome. I feel like shading tears. My heart is broken because all the political parties have not done well to women. The court is declaring that the party has no candidate. This is unacceptable. It is like a kangaroo judgment, but we will not give up.

“We are resilient and fully behind her (Binani). We will stand tall and strong to support any woman that has gone that far to occupy a seat that will bring meaningful development in our dear country.”

While urging stakeholders to ensure that no child was left behind without quality education, she called for robust investment in the education of girls.

AT the event, the Deputy Governor, Financial System Stability, Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Aishah Ahmad, said the education gap between most states in the northern part of Nigeria and their southern counterparts portend grave danger for the country.

According to her, Nigeria is suffering from consequences of poor quality education, which is evident in the extremely high unemployment of educated youths.

Speaking on the topic, ‘Can Nigeria develop without quality, inclusive education?’ Ahmad maintained that quality and inclusive education is a precursor to economic mobility, growth and development.

Nigeria, she added, is far from the fourth Sustainable Development Goals (SDG), which seeks to ensure inclusive equitable quality education and promote life-long learning opportunities for all, regardless of socio-economic status, gender, race, religion or physical capabilities.

She lamented that despite Nigeria having the largest Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of $480.48 billion or 18.4 per of Africa’s total GDP in 2021, public education is consistently under-funded.

“We must admit that the picture of inclusive quality education is bleaker in northern Nigeria. There is higher proficiency level in the South. In the North, schools relocate from the rural areas to the city due to insecurity. The funding is also poor. The trend shows that from 2016 to 2022, the highest allocation to the education sector was 8.4 per cent, which does not meet UNESCO’s recommendation that developing nations should allocate 15 to 20 per cent of their yearly budget to public education.

“Quality education is a precursor to economic development. According to UNICEF, one in every five of the world’s out-of-school children is in Nigeria. Of the 10.5 million Nigerian children that are out of school, about half are girls.”

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