Powerful women around governors

The influence of women in the political history of the world has never been in doubt and in Nigeria, the case is no difference. Since 1986, with the creation of the office of the First Lady by President Ibrahim Babangida, and the powerful role his wife Maryam Babangida played in that office, women have had enormous influence in the political landscape of Nigeria.

In the various states of Nigeria, Daily Trust investigations have uncovered some of the women who influence decisions and to a large extent determine who is appointed into which office in the various states of the country.

Powerful women around governors

In some states the wives of the governors hold sway, even where they don’t have any official office, their influence shapes the character of the governments in their states.

In other cases, the women with the ears of the governors are wily politicians who carefully coordinate the shapes the government takes and who gets what contract.

In this report by Daily Trust on Sunday, our correspondents from the states write about these powerful women and the influences they wield in the states. 

In Kano, first lady runs show behind the scenes

It is apparent that in Kano State there is no operational first lady’s office under the present administration of Dr Abdullahi Umar Ganduje and the wife of the governor, Hajiya Hafsat Umar Ganduje, has no any known pet project that she directly operates within or outside the state.

Daily Trust on Sunday gathered that Ganduje inherited the trend from his predecessor, Senator Rabi’u Musa Kwankwaso, who decided not to have a functional office of the first lady.

However, despite not having an official role in government, wife of the governor Hajiya Hafsat is said to wield enormous powers in the day-to-day running of the government.

Her influences over the governor is reported to include political appointments, award of contracts and other government affairs.

She is said to have been behind most of the juicy political appointments made by her husband and that most of the women appointed into various positions secured their appointments through the first lady.

Goggo is also said to have played a significant role in virtually all the minor cabinet reshuffles carried out by the state governor from 2015 to date. 

It was alleged that one of the reasons that made the immediate past Accountant General of the state, Hajiya Aisha Muhammed Bello to resign on February 22nd, 2018, was consistent interference by the First Lady.

Despite her influence, the First Lady maintains a low public profile as she hardly attends public functions or is seen in public offices. She wields her influence through appointed officers.

Powerful women around governors

In Plateau, influential commissioner has governor’s ear

Mrs. Tamwakat Weli, believed so much in the candidature of Governor Simon Bako Lalong, during the 2015 elections that she relocated from her home in Atlanta, USA to help Lalong emerge as the governor of Plateau State.

It therefore came as no surprise when the Tuwan-born commissioner from Kanke Local Government Area of the state was rewarded as Commissioner of Finance during Lalong’s first three years in office. 

With his recent cabinet dissolution in February, many said Weli did not panic as she knew her seat as one of Lalong’s commissioners was secured and certainly she had returned as the Commissioner of Culture and Tourism.

But the power Weli exhibits in the present APC government in the state is said to be through her husband, Dr. Nyema Weli, who is a close friend to the former Governor of Rivers State and now Minister of Transport, Rotimi Amaechi.  

Though a practicing nurse in the USA, Tamwakat Weli as Commissioner of Finance performed very well and was instrumental to the introduction of the Diligence Office in the ministry as well as reducing the state’s debt profile by 50 per cent.

As commissioner of Culture and Tourism, she is said to be one of the few who have the ears of Governor Lalong and has been strategically placed in the ministry to use her international connections especially at a time the ministry is gearing up to host a cultural carnival.

In Kogi, government runs through SSG

In Kogi, the First Lady, Mrs Rashida Bello is quiet and gentle but wields her influence through her pet project, the Kogi Women and Youth Advancement Foundation (KOWYAF), her outreach programme for women and youths.

However, the woman with the greatest influence in the day to day running of the Kogi State government is Dr (Mrs) Ayoade Folashade Arike, the Secretary to the state Government.

Dubbed the “Digital SSG” by Governor Bello himself, Mrs Arike enjoys a close working relationship with the governor and exerts great influence on the running of government, given the strategic position she occupies.

Memos and correspondences that go to the governor virtually on a daily basis must pass through her table for perusal before they get to the governor.

She coordinates the weekly State Executive Council meetings and usually vets all the council memos to make necessary inputs before their presentation to the exco.

Powerful women around governors

She coordinates the activities of all the political office holders in the state and had held workshops/seminars for them on many occasions. She just happens to be the only female SSG in the 24 APC controlled states in the country.

Lagos Governor Ambode admits wife’s influence

Governor Akinwunmi Ambode of Lagos State seems to be gender sensitive as he has appointed as many as more than 30 women that included his deputy into top positions.

But Ambode makes no bones about the fact that his wife, Bolanle, is the unofficial Number One woman by his side. 

At the 17th COWLSO (Committee of Wives of Lagos State Officials) National Women Conference held in Lagos recently, the governor, in the presence of some of his colleague governors and other dignitaries, unabashedly disclosed that doing some of his wife’s wishes and buying into her counselling had been central to the success of his government.

 Insiders in the Ambode administration confided that government’s intense focus on rape and domestic violence arose from Bolanle’s passion to fight the scourge, which her husband has been supporting.

 To show how dear the recent symbolic walk against domestic and sexual walk was to Gov Ambode, dignitaries that participated included his deputy, Dr Idiat Adebule (a woman) state Commissioner of Police, Edgal Imohimi and Chief Judge of the state, Justice Olufunmilayo Oke.

Mrs Ambode is the founder of Hope for Women in Nigeria Initiative (HOFOWEM), and the Chairperson of COWLSO, an inherited association from her predecessor, Remi Tinubu, wife of the former Lagos State  governor, Bola Ahmed Tinubu.

Mrs Ambode has kept herself busy by piloting the affairs of the two groups, organizing different programmes for the needy, advocate better deals for women and girl-child and commemorating topical United Nations days set aside to recognize women and children and issues involving them.

In these activities, Mrs Ambode has remained unassuming and is not known to have any office run by the First Lady at the Secretariat, Ikeja.

The powerful woman was said to be responsible for the transfer of a particular Lagos pastor from his Parish shortly after an incident involving her in the church.

Kaduna, a case of two Hadizas and one Aisha

In Kaduna State, Governor Nasir El-Rufai is surrounded by a number of influential women who have direct access to the governor and certainly have his ears. Principal among these women are two of the governor’s wives.

Hadiza El-Rufa’i, the first wife of Kaduna State governor.  She’s a graduate of Architecture from Ahmadu Bello University (ABU), Zaria. She also bagged an MA in Creative Writing at a UK university.  

She believes the office of the First Lady should be ceremonial but she is said to be a very strong woman who supports her husband with advice on issues and is said to have an influence on him.

His other wife, Hajiya Aisha Ummi Garba El-Rufai, a Kano-born an interior decorator from Taura Local Government Area of Jigawa State also influences the governor, according to our correspondents.

She graduated from the University of Abuja in 2003 with a B.Sc in Political Science and runs a pet project aimed at tackling malnutrition in the state and to encourage women to go into agriculture.

She is said to be around him most of the time and is believed to have a strong influence on him.

However, Governor El-rufai’s political henchwoman would appear to be Hadiza Bala Usman, the Nigeria Port Authority boss, who served as chief of staff to the Kaduna State governor.

But even before then, she worked for the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE) where Malam Nasir El-Rufai first got his appointment in the public service and later worked as a Special Assistant to the FCT Minister on Project Implementation.

By virtue of her schedule as chief of staff to the governor, she was one of the first and the last person to see him on a daily basis.

Her duties also availed her chance to know his schedules and to determine which of the functions the governor should personally attend to and who among the numerous numbers visitors he should see.

She has since left to take appointment as the Managing Director of the Nigeria Ports Authority, but even from there, she is believed to be in close contact with the governor and many have to lobby through her to get the attention of the governor.

When she left the Kaduna Government House, it took some time before the governor could decide on her replacement.

But her closeness to the governor makes her an easy suspect for any major project the governor is embarking on.

SSG Tina Agbor wields big stick in Cross River

The Secretary to the State Government, Barrister Tina Agbor is believed to exert huge influence and power in the government given her age, courage, determination, background and sagacity as a lawyer.  

It is also alleged that she has much say as to who benefitted from the avalanche of political appointments in the state. For instance, out of the over 5,000 special advisers and personal assistants it is alleged that she and the younger brother of the governor, otherwise called the Co-governor, Dr Frank Ayade, decided on who should be appointed.  

When recently, the governor decided to screen the army of appointees, especially the special advisers, Agbor’s office handled it, and imposed stringent conditions. Eventually, much of her recommendations flew.

Bayelsa’s Dickson has ear for two sisters

In the six years Governor Henry Seriake Dickson has been governor, the First Lady, Mrs Rachel Dickson, is said to hold enormous influence in the running of state affairs, especially with regards to political appointments and contract awards.

She runs a foundation named after her father, called “Friday Konyefas Foundation” which she uses in advocating for a better life for Bayelsa women and girl child education in the state.

Mrs Dickson is said to have nominated most of the female commissioners, special advisers and transition committee chairmen in her husband’s government. Some women who are members of the state house of assembly are said to have been nominated by Mrs Dickson during the 2015 electioins in collaboration with the then nation’s First Lady, Mrs Patience Goodluck Jonathan.

Currently, Gov. Dickson has about 20 women as special advisers through the recommendation of the First Lady, who wants more women in decision making positions. And of the three new commissioners sworn in last month, two were said to be nominated by the First Lady.

Her sister, Miss Nancy Friday Konyefa also has the ears of the governor and is said to    handle most of the contracts for the government, she is also the brains behind “Friday Konyefa Foundation”, the first lady’s pet project. 

Miss Konyefa is said to have unhindered access to the governor and the Creek Heaven, the Bayelsa State Government House, through her sister, according to our findings, she also influences political appointments as a close confidant of the first lady.

When the First Lady has any reason to travel, she is said to be the eye of the governor’s wife by reporting what happens in the government to her on a daily basis.

Another woman with influence in Bayelsa is said to be Mrs Ebizi Ndiomu-Brown, the deputy chief of staff to the governor.

She is liked by the First Lady, Mrs Dickson, because she is said to be a very loyal ally of the governor’s wife, and she determines who sees the governor on a daily basis, due to her role in the government.

Okorocha’s wife, sister are powerful women Imo

By far, the most influential woman in the administration of Governor Rochas Okorocha of Imo State is the wife of the governor, Nneoma Rochas Okoocha. 

She is seen as the ‘neck that carries the head because of her sometimes behind-the-scene roles in piloting the affairs of the government.

Nneoma is the Vice President of Rochas Foundation Incorporated which comprises of Rochas Foundation Colleges, spread across the nation in Ogboko in Ideato South of Imo State, Owerri  in Imo State, Jos in Plateau state, Ibadan in  Oyo State and in Kano. 

She coordinates the activities of the school since the foundation was established 20 years ago. She also established the Women of Divine Destiny Initiative (WODDI) a project which has been in existence long before she became the First Lady of Imo State. 

Her humanitarian roles aside, her political footprints have been pointed out in the plot to have her daughter, Uloma Nwosu, succeed her as the First Lady by enthroning her son-in-law, Ugwumba Uche Nwosu, to succeed Governor Okorocha and would not stand any opposition to this idea. 

She was recently touted as being the brains behind recent moves to impeach the Deputy Governor, Eze Madumere, who she apparently see as the staunchest block to this most singular aspiration.

Another powerful woman in Okorochas’ government is his younger sister, Ogechi Ololo. She is the Deputy Chief of Staff, Domestics /Chairman Taskforce on Food Security and was recently appointed the Commissioner for Happiness and Purpose Fulfilment. A great mobilizer for her brother, she organizes women in the community council development areas, through which her brother draws a lot of support from women in the grassroots. 

Other women, such as Mrs. Getrude Oduka, the Commissioner for Education, Science and Technology and Dr Henrietta Jacobs, Chairman of the Board of Internal Revenue, are also said to have considerable influence.