Minister blames Binani sacking as Adamawa APC gubernatorial candidate

• Educational disparity between North and South is frightening, says CBN chief

Women's Affairs Minister Pauline Tallen has criticized the Federal High Court's ruling overturning the All Progressives Congress (APC) gubernatorial primary in Adamawa State.

Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of the First Global Meeting and Annual Meeting of the Federal Government Girls' College, Bida Old Girls Association, in Abuja this weekend, the Minister lamented the number of women running for office of 2023, which she describes as weak.

According to Tallen, the decision that sacked Aishatu Binani, the country's only female gubernatorial candidate, is a "kangaroo" judgment that should be rejected by well-meaning Nigerians.

Binani was elected on May 26 as the APC's gubernatorial candidate in the now-cancelled primary. She got 430 votes to defeat her closest rival, Nuhu Ribadu, who got 288.

After the primary, Ribadu went to court alleging irregularities in the exercise. In his judgment, the trial judge, Abdulaziz Anka, found that the primary did not comply with the 2022 electoral law, the national constitution and party guidelines.

Stating that the decision showed the continued marginalization of women in politics, the Minister added that women were not being treated fairly in primaries organized by political parties to produce candidates for the 2023 ballot.

Tallen said, "It's very disturbing. I feel like shading with tears. My heart is broken because not all political parties have done women well. Court says party n There's no candidate. It's unacceptable. It's like kangaroo judgment, but we won't give up.

“We are resilient and fully behind her (Binani). We will stand tall and strong in support of any woman who has gone this far to occupy a seat that will bring meaningful development to our dear country.”

While urging stakeholders to ensure that no child is left behind without a quality education, she called for strong investment in girls' education.

During the event, Deputy Governor, Financial System Stability, Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Aishah Ahmad, said the education gap between most of the northern Nigerian states and their southern counterparts portends grave danger to the country.

According to her, Nigeria is suffering from the consequences of poor quality education, which is evident in the extremely high unemployment rate among educated youth.

Speaking on the topic, "Can Nigeria develop without quality and inclusive education?", Ahmad argued that quality and inclusive education is a precursor to economic mobility, growth and development.

Nigeria, she added, is falling short of the fourth Sustainable Development Goal (SDG), which aims to ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all, regardless of socio-economic status, gender, race, religion. or physical abilities.

She lamented that although Nigeria has the highest gross domestic product (GDP) of $480.48 billion, or 18.4% of Africa's total GDP in 2021, public education is consistently underfunded.

“We have to admit that the picture of inclusive quality education is darker in northern Nigeria. The level of proficiency is higher in the south. the city due to insecurity. Funding is also low. The trend shows that between 2016 and 2022, the highest allocation to the education sector was 8.4%, which is not in line with the UNESCO recommendation that developing countries should allocate 15-20% of their annual budget to public education.

"Quality education is a precursor to economic development. According to UNICEF, one out of every five children out of school in the world lives in Nigeria. Of the 10.5 million Nigerian children who are out of school, approximately half are girls."