On March 20, Uba Sani, the candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), was declared winner of the governorship election held in Kaduna State on March 18.

Sani polled 730,002 votes to defeat his closest rival, Isa Ashiru of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), who polled 719,196 votes.

Before becoming the governor-elect, Sani was the senator representing Kaduna Central Senatorial District.

The focus, however, is not Sani, but Hadiza Balarabe, his running mate.

Born on August 26, 1966, Balarabe attended Demonstration Primary School, Kagoro, and Girls College, Soba, Kaduna State, for her primary and secondary school education.

After this, she studied medicine at the University of Maiduguri and graduated in 1986.

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Her political journey started in 2018, when she was nominated as the running mate of Nasir el-Rufai in the build-up to the 2019 governorship election in Kaduna State.

When el-Rufai was eventually declared winner of the Kaduna State governorship election that year, Balarabe became the second female deputy governor to serve in the state, after Pamela Sadauki, who served from 1990 to 1992.

In May 2022, Balarabe was once again selected as running mate to Uba Sani.

She will serve as Sani’s deputy when his tenure begins on May 29.

Here are five other female deputy governors-elect waiting to be sworn-in on May 29.

NOIMOT SALAKO-OYEDELE (OGUN STATE)

On March 19, Noimot Salako-Oyedele, the incumbent deputy governor of Ogun State, was re-elected for another four-year term.

Born on January 8, 1966 in the Ado Odo Ota Local Government Area of Ogun State, Salako-Oyedele holds a degree in civil engineering from the University of Lagos.

When Dapo Abiodun, the state governor, was first elected in 2019, Salako-Oyedele became the third female deputy governor since the state was created in 1976.

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Before venturing into politics in 2019, Salako-Oyedele was into property development business.

NGOZI NMA ODU (RIVERS STATE)

On March 20, Ngozi Nma Odu, a professor at the University of Port Harcourt, became the deputy governor-elect of Rivers State, when Sim Fubara, her principal was declared winner of the governorship election that was conducted in the state.

Born 68 years ago in Ogba, Egbema, Ndoni Local Government Area of Rivers State, Odu obtained her first degree in microbiology from Paisley College of Technology, Renfrewshire, Scotland.

After she began her civil service career with the Rivers State Ministry of Health, Odu rose through the ranks within six years to become a permanent secretary in 1999. She held the post for seven years, making her the longest serving permanent secretary in that ministry. 

In January 2006, she was appointed as the Rivers State Commissioner for Education.

Before her election as deputy governor-elect, she was the Director of Academic Planning, Pamo University of Medical Sciences, Rivers State.

AKON EYAKENYI (AKWA IBOM STATE)

On March 20, Akon Eyakenyi emerged as the deputy governor-elect of Akwa Ibom State.

Born on February 24, 1960, in the Urue-Offong/Oruko Local Government Area of Akwa Ibom State, Eyakenyi first attended Government Primary School, Uko Uyokim in 1968, before enrolling in the Methodist Teacher’s Training College in Oron, where she graduated with a Teachers Grade II Certificate in 1979.

She went on to obtain a Bachelor of Education degree from the University of Calabar in 1990.

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Her political career began in 2000, when she was appointed commissioner for industry, commerce and tourism in Akwa Ibom State.

In 2014, she became Nigeria’s minister of lands, housing and urban development in 2014 during the Goodluck Jonathan administration.

Until her election as deputy governor, she was the senator representing Akwa Ibom South Senatorial District.

JOSEPHINE PIYO (PLATEAU STATE)

On May 29, Josephine Piyo will be sworn-in as Plateau State Deputy Governor.

Born in 1957, Piyo first worked as a nurse, and then as a teacher before venturing into politics when she got elected into the Plateau State House of Assembly in 1999.

She then served as a special adviser to the Governor of Plateau State from 2008 to 2011.

In 2014, she got elected as the Chairman of Riyom Local Government Area.

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She got nominated as the running mate to Caleb Mutfwang, the eventual winner of the 2023 governorship election in the state, in June 2022.

PATRICIA OBILA (EBONYI STATE)

Before becoming the deputy governor-elect of Ebonyi State, Patricia Obila was a two-time Vice Chairman of Afikpo North LGA.

Obila is set to become the first female politician to make it to the post of deputy governor since the the creation of Ebonyi State in 1996.

In 2022, Obila was picked as a deputy governorship candidate by Francis Ogbonnia Nwifuru, the Ebonyi State governor-elect who is the current Speaker of the Ebonyi State House of Assembly.