A retired female civil servant from Kwara state, Hajia Musiliat Yetunde, on Monday declared her intention to contest for the governorship seat of the state under the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC), declaring that the First Lady Oluremi Tinubu spurred her to run.
Yetunde who hails from Jebba, Moro local government area in the Kwara North, is the second woman to so far to indicate interest in the governorship race.
According to her, at multiple fora, including the Art for Governance Exhibition and the 2025 Open National Assembly Week, Senator Tinubu had spoken in support of the “reserved seat for women bill” at the national assembly, and had urged lawmakers to pass it.
Speaking with select journalists about her aspiration in Ilorin, the retired civil servant turned politician, said she was inspired to join the 2027 Kwara governorship race following the challenge thrown to women by Nigeria’s First Lady.
“If the women are not rearing their heads, the clamour for the 35 per cent seat reservation for women in the national assembly being championed by the first lady, will be a mirage”, she said.
Stating her resolve to lead the state successfully if given the mandate to be the first female governor in Kwara, the aspirant said her focus would be to further enhance the socio-economic status of the state by building the economic and educational capacity of women to drive every sector of the state.
“I am not chasing the cloud of the office of the governor or the euphoria of the office, I really want to work; I want to be an example and inspiration for the young girls. If you (men) are governors women too can be governors,” she enthused.
She listed priorities areas in her manifesto to include education, health, youth and women empowerment, infrastructure, security, agriculture, energy and water supply, even as she said she would consolidate on the success recorded by the administration of governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq .
On the cultural barriers hindering women from effective participation in politics and governance, the governorship aspirant said she would work closely with traditional institutions to review customs and traditions that deprive women of their rights and opportunities, citing the issue of inheritance as an example.
