Niger State Governor, Umar Mohammed Bago has commended members of the state House of Assembly for picking the only female member representing Gurara Constituency, Afiniki Dauda as the Deputy Speaker of the House.
He described the decision of the lawmakers as in line with his administration’s desire to actively involve women in governance in the state.
Bago gave the commendation during a thanksgiving service in honour of the Deputy Speaker of the 10th Assembly at Dikko, Gurara local government area of the state.
The Speaker, Abdulmalik Sarkindaji, who represented the governor, reiterated his resolve to ensure that women in the state play prominent roles in his administration.
” I will be running an all-inclusive government that will give women their rightful place as good managers of resources. This singular decision by the male-dominated assembly is in line with my administration’s vision for women in the state,”the governor noted.
The governor described the Deputy speaker as a woman of courage whose upbringing and Christian background have contributed immensely to her successful political story leading to her being the first female Deputy Speaker in the state.
He then expressed the preparedness of the executive arm of the government to work with the legislatures in achieving the desired results.
The Deputy Speaker, Afiniki Dauda in her reaction said she never lobbied nor struggled for the position but was chosen by divine intervention.
” My election as the Deputy Speaker and the first female to occupy such position in the state House of Assembly was an act of God; my service to God brought me this far in politics. I assure women in the state that I will represent them. I am also calling the Christians in the state to continue to pray for the success of the administration”.
In his sermon, Reverend Pastor Koce Istifanus of the ECWA good news Dikko had urged the administration to carry everybody along irrespective of tribe or religion to build a new Niger State for all.