By Oluwatosin Ajayi
As more women get involved in politics, they have continued to rise to the top of their political careers. Let us take a look at some of the women who have served as speakers in house of assemblies and house of representatives in Nigeria.
Olubunmi Adelugba
The APC lawmaker was elected the speaker of the Ekiti Assembly on Monday. This followed the impeachment and indefinite suspension of the former speaker, Gboyega Aribisogan who spent only six days in office.
Olubunmi represents Emure Constituency in the state after being elected in 2019. Previously she served as the chief whip of the assembly. Olubunmi is the first female speaker of the Ekiti Assembly, since 1999.
She worked in audit & corporate advisory services and finance consultancy. Olubunmi once served as the Ekiti State Commissioner for Labour, Productivity, and Human Capital Development.
Elizabeth Ativie
Elizabeth Ativie was Edo Assembly speaker in 2016 after Victor Edodor’s impeachment. She also served as a deputy speaker in the same assembly, representing Uhunmwode Constituency. Her first four years as a lawmaker in the state was under the platform of the PDP, while the remaining years was on the APC.
Upon emerging speaker, she pledged to “maintain an open door policy and provide leadership that will move the state forward.” She worked as a nurse in the Edo State civil service and retired as a director in 2006.
Jumoke Akindele
Jumoke is a Nigerian lawyer. The lawmaker is also the first female speaker of the Ondo State House of Assembly. Her lawmaking career started when she was elected in 2011 under the PDP platform. Upon election, she served as the chairman of house committee on education. In 2015, she was elected the speaker after the death of her predecessor, Samuel Adesina. She represented Okitipupa Constituency II before she resigned due to a N15 million misappropriation in 2018.
Margret Icheen
She became the first female speaker of the Benue Assembly. She is also the first female speaker in Nigeria and West Africa. Margret resigned from her position on March 11, 2002, due to the corruption of the house members and a threat to her life. The former speaker is the newly elected committee member of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF). This makes her the first female member of the board. Her mission is to ensure that every state in the region has a formidable female football club.
Patricia Etteh
Patricia was the speaker of the House of Representatives between June and October 2007 after a unanimous election. She represented Ayedaade/Isokan/Irewole Constituency in Osun State. The speaker was first elected as an AD member in 1999. She contested and was reelected under the PDP in 2003. Since then, she has remained the only woman to hold this position in Nigeria.
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