NEWS
Sen. Ekwunife Honoured, Delivers Powerful Speech at 2025 Awolowo Dialogue (See Full Speech)
26th Nov., 2025.
Yesterday, Most Distinguished Senator Uche Lilian Ekwunife, PhD, CON, delivered a powerful address at the 2025 HID Awolọwọ Foundation Dialogue, where she was also honoured with an award in recognition of her contributions to national development and her unwavering advocacy for women in governance.
The Dialogue, established in memory of the Late Chief (Mrs) HID Awolọwọ, is dedicated to advancing gender inclusion and driving political reform across Nigeria. This year’s event was held in Ikenne, Ogun State, attracting a distinguished audience of traditional rulers, activists, scholars, women leaders, and policy influencers.
Senator Ekwunife was selected to speak based on her outstanding leadership record and her consistent voice for women’s political participation.
Her keynote address—delivered under the theme “Breaking Barriers or Standing Still? Nigerian Women in Politics 30 Years After Beijing”, with a sub-theme “Women in Power: Lived Experiences”—painted a frank picture of the systemic hurdles facing Nigerian women in public office.
She described the nation’s current level of female representation—less than 10% of elective positions—as a “democratic deficit,” calling attention to stalled gender bills, patriarchal party structures, and the persistent misogyny women encounter in the political arena.
Below is the full text of Senator Uche Ekwunife’s speech as delivered at the event:
Speech by Senator Uche Lilian Ekwunife (IYOM), PhD, CON at the HID Awolọwọ Foundation Dialogue 2025, Ikenne, Ogun State.
Theme: “Breaking Barriers or Standing Still? Nigerian Women in Politics 30 Years After Beijing.”
Sub-theme: “Women in Power: Lived Experiences — In Her Own Words: Stories from Women Who Led or Tried To.”
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Protocol
The Convener and Executive Director of the HID Awolọwọ Foundation, Ambassador Dr. O. Awolọwọ Dosumu; distinguished dignitaries; eminent scholars; panelists; traditional rulers; activists; fellow women leaders; gentlemen of the press; and all resilient women and men gathered here today, good morning.
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To stand here in Ikẹnnẹ, the home of Chief Obafemi Awolọwọ and Yeye Oodua, Chief (Mrs.) HID Awolọwọ, is a privilege that carries both emotional depth and intellectual gravity. This is not just a town; it is a crucible of national history, a place where ideas were nurtured, policies were shaped, and leadership was modelled with clarity of purpose.
Yeye Oodua’s life remains a curriculum in discipline, courage, partnership, and political sagacity. Her influence envelops us today like a mantle of wisdom. And under this canopy of legacy, we gather to confront a question that demands honesty and courage:
Thirty years after the Beijing Declaration, are Nigerian women breaking barriers or standing still? This question challenges us to measure progress with candour, and to acknowledge, without sentiment, the distance that remains.
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Where We Stand
The 1995 Beijing Declaration stands as the world’s most ambitious blueprint for gender equality. It placed women’s rights at the centre of global development and insisted that women must be present wherever power is exercised.
Nigeria signed that commitment. Yet, thirty years later, the results are sobering:
• Women still hold less than 10% of elective offices.
• Under 5% of seats in the Senate are occupied by women.
• Only around 8% in the House of Representatives.
• Across 36 states, only four deputy governors are women.
For a nation where women constitute nearly half the population, these figures reflect not just an imbalance—they represent a democratic deficit.
Gender-responsive bills struggle to survive. The Gender Equality Bill has been rejected three times in ten years. Bills on affirmative action, inheritance rights, and protections for political participation face persistent resistance.
Political parties—the true gatekeepers of democracy—remain the biggest bottlenecks. They determine who gets the ticket, the funding, the support structures, and the winnable constituencies.
Yet, no major political party in Nigeria today is led by a woman. The National Interest Party (NIP), once chaired by Eunice Atuejide—a rare example of female party leadership—was deregistered after the 2019 general elections. Today, Nigeria has zero active major parties chaired by women.
This is not coincidental. It is structural.
The political terrain—tainted by violence, monetisation, disinformation, and misogyny—deters women disproportionately. Women face online harassment, character assassination, moral policing, and gendered attacks that their male counterparts seldom endure.
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The Truth
We have made progress, but progress is not parity.
Visibility is not victory.
Representation is not yet real power.
Nigeria is not short of capable women—only short of systems that let them lead.
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Yet Women Rise
Globally, women like Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala and Dr. Amina Mohammed show that Nigerian excellence knows no gender.
From all corners of Nigeria, women like Senator Oluremi Tinubu, Senator Daisy Ehanire Danjuma, Senator Franca Afegbua (the first elected woman senator in Nigeria), Senator Joy Emodi (First female Senator in South East Nigeria), Hon. Abike Dabiri-Erewa, Senator Grace Folashade Bent, Her Excellency Dame Virgy Etiaba (Nigeria’s first female Governor), Prof. Dora Akunyili and many others have shaped national policy and governance.
In the corporate world, trailblazers such as Folorunsho Alakija, Dr. Stella Okoli, Mo Abudu, and Dr. Adaora Umeoji, the first female GMD of Zenith Bank, demonstrate that Nigerian women excel in every arena.
These achievements reaffirm a timeless truth: Nigeria’s challenge has never been women’s competence—it has been access, opportunity, and institutional support.
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My Own Journey
My own story—from the banking hall to the Senate chambers—is a small thread in this larger fabric.
In banking, I rose from Branch Manager to Head of the Public Sector Unit. It was a world of exacting targets, strategic decisions, and sustained pressure. Yet I remained a wife and mother, balancing bedtime prayers with boardroom reports. Leadership for women is rarely linear; it is often a delicate negotiation of competing priorities.
When I transitioned into politics, I realised the bias was even sharper. In my recent experience as Deputy Gubernatorial Candidate in Anambra State, I faced attacks rooted not in policy, but in gender.
My ambition was labelled “over-ambition.”
My independence was painted as defiance.
My gender became a tool for political warfare.
During a parliamentary debate on electoral reform, a male colleague shouted: “Women should stay at home, not in the chambers!” I stood up and replied calmly:
“Our home is wherever we choose to be.
Today, my home is here shaping the laws of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.”
That exchange captures the lived experience of countless Nigerian women in politics—not only fighting for office, but fighting the prejudice that questions their right to aspire.
Yet we persist—not for personal ambition, but to redefine leadership for the young girls watching from classrooms and homes across Nigeria.
As Chair of the Senate Committee on Science, Technology and Innovation, I led the historic approval of first-line charge funding for NASENI after 33 years. That reform strengthened Nigeria’s innovation ecosystem and affirmed what is already clear:
When women lead, they deliver.
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The Power of Imagination
I often ask young women: “What do you see when you imagine your country?” Because the future we cannot imagine, we cannot build.
Let us imagine a Nigeria where:
• Half of National Assembly seats are held by women;
• Every state proudly counts women in its executive and legislature;
• Women chair major committees — defence, finance, petroleum, national planning;
• A woman president is no longer a dream, but a normal possibility.
Imagine, for a moment, a Nigeria led by women of proven excellence — a President like Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala and a Vice President like Amina Mohammed. Their track records in global finance, diplomacy, and governance give us a glimpse of what bold, ethical, and transformative leadership could deliver in just four years.
Around the world, evidence shows that countries with higher levels of women in leadership enjoy stronger economic growth, lower corruption, better social outcomes, and greater political stability. This is not speculation — it is data.
And when we say a woman cannot lead, we forget a simple truth: every president, every leader, every nation-builder was brought into this world by a woman. If women are trusted to raise leaders, why should they not be trusted to be leaders themselves?
Imagination must translate into policy, party reform, constitutional review, and cultural change. Our goal is not to replace men, but to ensure leadership reflects our full national capacity. A nation cannot walk on one leg; neither can it think with half its brain.
Inclusion is not charity—it is smart governance. Nigeria cannot prosper while half its talent is excluded.
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The Work Ahead
The Beijing Platform offered a global framework. But frameworks do not implement themselves.
We must now do the heavy lifting:
• Government must reform beyond rhetoric.
• Political parties must embrace gender equity as a democratic imperative.
• Institutions must treat inclusion as a strength.
• Women must claim their space.
• Men of conscience must act as allies.
Institutions should establish and enforce comprehensive policies that safeguard women from discrimination, harassment, and violence in both public and private settings.
Let this Dialogue not end as another elegant conversation that fades at the door. Let it become a renewed covenant with Nigerian women.
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Eight Proposals for Action
1. A Women-in-Politics Accountability Charter for all political parties, with measurable inclusion targets and public scorecards.
2. A National Women’s Shadow Parliament to monitor and contribute to legislative debates from a gender perspective.
3. A Diaspora Women Policy Bridge connecting the expertise of Nigerian women abroad with national reforms.
4. Mandatory gender-sensitivity and anti-bias training for elected officials, senior civil servants, and party executives.
5. A national narrative-shaping initiative to elevate stories of women in leadership at all levels.
6. Dedicated federal and state budget lines for women’s leadership development.
7. Enforceable safety protocols guaranteeing secure political participation for female candidates.
8. Before the next election cycle, every major political party should publish its gender inclusion targets and annual progress reports. Accountability must begin now.
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Honouring HID Awolọwọ
How fitting that these reflections honour a woman who embodied the principles of the Beijing Declaration long before it existed. Chief Awolọwọ called his wife a “jewel of inestimable value.” He spoke truth.
Mama HID was not just a spouse; she was a strategist, an organiser, a leader, a stabilising force, a silent power in public life. She stood beside her husband, not behind him—shaping history with her strength, her intellect, and her quiet authority.
Her life reminds us that leadership is strongest when shared, and that when women rise, families, communities, and nations rise with them.
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Closing
As we conclude, let us anchor ourselves on the four pillars of this Dialogue:
• Reflect on how far we have come since Beijing and since HID Awolọwọ’s era.
• Reclaim the spaces and narratives that are ours by right.
• Reimagine a Nigeria where women’s leadership is normal, not exceptional.
• Reform our laws, institutions, parties, cultures, and mindsets.
Thirty years after Beijing, the real question is not whether barriers remain—they do.
The question is whether the next thirty years will look like the last.
I believe they will not.
I believe Nigerian women will not stand still.
We will rise.
We will lead.
We will transform this nation.
Thank you all for listening and God bless the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
The House of Representatives has officially named Bayelsa lawmaker Fred Agbedi as its Minority Leader, ending weeks of intense lobbying and consultations among opposition members.
Speaker Abbas Tajudeen made the announcement on Thursday at the start of plenary, also confirming Sokoto’s Abdusamad Dasuki as Deputy Minority Leader and Bauchi’s Mansur Manu Soro as Minority Chief Whip.
Agbedi, who represents the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), will lead the minority caucus alongside Dasuki of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) and Soro of the Allied Peoples Movement (APM).
The appointments follow heated disputes over the leadership position, with some lawmakers previously staging protests in the chamber.
Notably, Ikenga Ugochinyere of Imo State and his allies had opposed the process, chanting “No announcement, No sitting” during an earlier session.
With Thursday’s announcement, the House appears to have settled the leadership tussle, paving the way for opposition lawmakers to focus on legislative business under Agbedi’s leadership.
The Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) has issued a stern warning to front-end enrolment partners of the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC), stating that involvement in fraudulent National Identification Number (NIN) registrations could result in a seven-year prison sentence upon conviction.
The warning was delivered on Thursday in Abuja during a security briefing organised by NIMC for its enrolment partners in collaboration with the Office of the National Security Adviser and other security agencies.
Assistant Director at the ICPC, Mark Faison, emphasised that enrolment agents must strictly adhere to the terms of their engagement, describing any deviation as an abuse of office and an act of corruption.
“If you abuse the privilege you have been given, that amounts to abuse of office because you are operating on behalf of NIMC to register Nigerians. And if you do otherwise, you are abusing the trust that has been placed in you, and you will be punished for it if you are caught,” Faison said.
He added: “Seven years’ imprisonment is the punishment for that kind of offence. So I urge you, please, for the sake of the safety of our country, do the little you can do in your own corner.”
Faison particularly flagged the registration of non-Nigerians as citizens, noting that such actions constitute a serious national security threat.
He revealed that security agencies have arrested individuals who obtained NINs through some enrolment centres only to be discovered as foreigners by immigration officers.
The NIMC Director-General and Chief Executive Officer, Abisoye Coker-Odusote, explained that the briefing was necessary due to the expanding role of digital identity in government services, finance, telecommunications, healthcare, education, and social interventions.
She stressed the need for stronger security controls and system integrity, warning that only NIMC-approved and certified software would be permitted in the ecosystem.
The commission plans to intensify audits of enrolment partners to prevent data leakages and ensure compliance.
Other speakers, including NIMC’s Head of IT and Identity Data Department, Suleiman Falade, and a representative from the Office of the National Security Adviser, Kayode Oni, reinforced the call for diligence, warning that violations would attract sanctions.
The 12th Prosecution Witness (PW12) Christopher Odofin, in the ongoing trial of the former Minister of Aviation, Hadi Sirika, on Wednesday, told Justice S.C. Oriji of the Federal Capital Territory, High Court, Abuja, how Sirika allegedly passed off an aircraft belonging to Ethiopian Airline as that of the promised Nigeria Air by the government of the late President Muhammadu Buhari.
The decoy aircraft, adorned with the livery of the promised Nigeria Air, found its way on the tarmac of the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja on May 27, 2023, being three days to the expiration of the tenure of the Buhari government and was flown back to Addis Ababa in the morning of May 29, 2023, being the handover date to the successor government.
Hadi Sirika is facing prosecution by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on amended six-count, bordering on alleged abuse of office and misappropriation of public funds to the tune of over N2 billion.
He is being tried alongside his daughter, Fatima Hadi Sirika, son-in-law, Hamma Jalal Sule, and Al Buraq Global Investment Limited.
The contract for the setting up of Nigeria Air was awarded to Tianaero Nigeria Limited, belonging to Gabriel Tilmann, a close associate and friend of the former minister.
Reading from a portion of contract agreement with Ethiopian Airline, the witness, an investigator with the EFCC said, “The aircraft will depart from Addis Ababa (ADD) late evening of May 26, 2023 for it to be positioned early morning of May 27, 2023 at the Abuja (ABV) airport.
“The aircraft will stay in ABV airport for static display of Nigeria Air livery until May 28, 2023. The aircraft will leave ABV airport early morning on May, 29, 2023. The chartered flight will be operated by the Ethiopian Airline crew in Ethiopian Airline uniform.
“The Federal Government of Nigeria and Nigeria Air may put together local models who will be in Nigeria Air uniforms to pose for ceremonial pictures. The models may come to Addis Ababa so they may fly with the chartered flight to ABV.”
The witness told the court that the display of the aircraft in Abuja International Airport was deliberately planned to coincide with the end of the first defendant’s tenure as Nigeria’s Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development on May 29, 2023 and to pass the aircraft off as the actualization of his promise of the return of Nigeria Air.
After the less than 72 hours display of the aircraft, he stated that the Nigeria Air logo was removed from the aircraft and flown back to Ethiopian Airlines in Addis Ababa.
The witness further disclosed that the investigating team was also able to ascertain that Ethiopian Airlines entered into a charter arrangement for the static display of the Nigeria Air livery for a duration of just three days, beginning from May 27 to May 29, 2023 based on information and documents received from the airline following a letter from it, dated June 12, 2023, in response to the EFCC’s request for information regarding Nigeria Air.
Though the purpose of the contract was for the establishment of Nigeria Air, the charter agreement with Ethiopian Airlines was entered on May 24, 2023, five days to the expiration of the defendant’s tenure for just a static display of the Nigeria Air logo on an aircraft.
All the documents tendered in evidence by the prosecution were shown to have been duly signed, authorized, and accompanied by certificates of identification and were not objected to by any of the counsels to the four defendants.
Among the exhibits is a compact disk containing a voice note from the first defendant, Hadi Sirika, marked Exhibit 37, which the prosecution counsel applied to be played in the court at the next adjourned date.
Further in his testimony, the witness told the court told that though the contract for the start-up of Nigeria Air, which was awarded to Tianaero Nigeria Limited for over N299 million on April 4, 2022, saw a contract extension award to the company on October 17, 2022, to a sum, exceeding N599 million on the instructions and directives of the first defendant, based on his relationship with the company’s alter ego.
According to him, “The investigating team arrived at this position when the phone of one Enitan Muyiwa Abel, who was a Permanent Secretary in the first defendant’s ministry was analysed, showing a voice note sent to the Permanent Secretary while the first defendant was in Spain instructing him to ensure that the contract was awarded to Tianaero Nigeria Limited.”
Justice Oriji adjourned the matter till next week June 17, 2026 for the continuation of the trial.
Adamawa State Governor Ahmadu Fintiri has given political appointees in his administration a stark choice: defect to the All Progressives Congress (APC) or resign their positions immediately.
In a statement issued on Wednesday by the governor’s Chief Press Secretary, Humwashi Wonosikou, the government directed all political office holders who have declared allegiance to or defected to other political parties to submit their resignation letters to the Office of the Secretary to the State Government within 48 hours.
The directive aims to maintain loyalty, discipline, and the integrity of public service. According to the statement, appointees are expected to fully support the policies, programmes, and political direction of the current administration.
“Continued service by persons who have aligned with another party poses a clear risk of sabotage, information leakage, and obstruction of policy implementation and party strategy,” the statement read.
It further warned that failure to comply within the stipulated time would lead to immediate termination of appointments, stoppage of salaries and entitlements, and additional administrative actions.
The Office of the Secretary to the State Government and the Head of Service have been tasked with compiling a list of affected appointees for monitoring.
The move comes after Governor Fintiri defected to the APC, while many of his appointees remained in the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) or joined other parties, reportedly working against the APC in the state.
Governor Fintiri emphasised that public office is held in trust and must align with the vision and mandate of the administration, adding that divided loyalty would not be tolerated.
The Senate Committee on Public Accounts has ordered the arrest of former Group Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL), Mele Kyari, for repeatedly failing to appear before it to explain allegations of N210 trillion in unaccounted funds between 2017 and 2023.
The directive was issued on Wednesday during an investigative hearing into queries raised by the Office of the Auditor-General of the Federation regarding the company’s financial records for the period under review.
Kyari’s absence prompted the committee to rule against further delays, leading to the issuance of a warrant for his arrest and production before the panel.
During the sitting, some senators, including Saliu Mustapha (Kwara Central) and Tony Nwoye (Anambra North), appealed for caution, noting that Kyari was reportedly ill and receiving treatment in Germany. They urged the committee to grant him another opportunity to appear.
However, other members strongly opposed the plea. Senator Abdul Ningi (Bauchi Central) insisted that verbal excuses were unacceptable without documented proof, while Senator Victor Umeh (Anambra Central) formally moved the motion for Kyari’s arrest.
The motion was seconded by Deputy Chairman Senator Peter Nwaebonyi (Ebonyi North).
Senator Adams Oshiomhole (Edo North) also backed the decision, warning that the Senate risked diminishing its authority if it failed to enforce compliance with its summons.
“Some people believe they are bigger than Nigeria. The law must be effective when it catches the lion, not only when it catches the rabbit,” he said.
Chairman of the committee, Senator Ibrahim Dankwambo (Gombe North), subsequently ruled that Kyari should be arrested wherever he is and brought before the committee.
At the centre of the probe are alleged financial discrepancies totalling N210 trillion flagged in NNPCL’s accounts. However, the former Chief Financial Officer of the NNPCL, Umar Isa, who appeared before the committee, challenged the figure, describing it as misleading.
Isa insisted that no funds were missing and noted that NNPCL’s total revenue for the period was about ₦54.5 trillion before production costs.
He argued that publishing audited accounts would have been impossible if such a massive sum had disappeared.
The committee directed Isa and former Chief Upstream Investment Officer Bala Wunti to reappear before it within two weeks as the investigation continues.
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APC to Deploy 4.4 Million Polling Agents for Tinubu’s 2027 Bid, Uzodinma Says
‘Busted’: Sirika Accused of Renting Plane for Fake Nigeria Air Launch
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IGP Launches ‘Handshake Patrols’ as DIGs Deployed Nationwide to Tackle Insecurity
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