The opposition that greeted her ministerial nomination was only superseded by that against Rotimi Amaechi, former governor of Rivers state. But after petition upon petition by senators from Sokoto state, Aisha Abubakar was not only screened on Wednesday, she was asked to “take a bow and go”.
Three days after her nomination was announced on October 12, Ibrahim Gobir, senator representing Sokoto east, had presented a petition against her, saying: “The Sokoto people want her to be replaced with a more competent person”.
The following week, Gobir returned with two more petitions, maintaining that the “People of Sokoto” had found her “incompetent”.
Similarly, the Sokoto chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) rejected Abubakar’s nomination, saying she was not a member of the party.
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The nominee, led by Governor Aminu Tambuwal, subsequently held a “peace meeting” with APC stakeholders in the state.
President Muhammadu Buhari himself intervened, holding a one-hour meeting with Tambuwal and Aliyu Wamakko, a serving senator and former governor of the state on Abubakar’s nomination.
The value of all these consultations were immediately evident during her screening on Wednesday. Immediately after she finished reading her profile, Biodun Olujimi, the senator representing Ekiti south, moved that Abubakar should be allowed to take a bow and go.
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“Since this is a gender-sensitive chamber, since Madam Aisha Abubakar is one of only six females out of the total 36 ministerial nominees, and since Senator Ibrahim Gobir who, has sponsored petitions upon petitions against her, has also withdrawn them, I want to ask this honourable chamber to allow her take a bow and go,” she said.
Gobir himself was the one who stood up to second the motion, leaving Abubakar to take a bow and exit the chamber less than 10 minutes after entering.
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