A 26-YEAR-OLD lady, Rukayat Shittu, has won a seat in the Kwara State House of Assembly.
Shittu, of the All Progressives Congress (APC), was declared the winner of Owode Onire state constituency of Asa Local Government Area in the state on Sunday, March 19.
Announcing the result of the governorship and House of Assembly poll, which took place in the state on Saturday, March 18, Hakeem Ijaya, a professor, said Shittu scooped 7,521 votes to defeat her closest rival, Abdullah Magaji, of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), who won 6,957 votes.
The ICIR reports that Shittu will be one of the youngest lawmakers in the country’s history.
She is a former Senate President of the Congress of Students at the National Open University of Nigeria.
Multiple online posts, including this say Shittu, also known as RMS, hails from Manyan village, Onire district in Asa local government area of Kwara State.
“RMS then proceeded to Kwara State College of Arabic and Islamic Legal Studies, an affiliate of Bayero University Kano (then), where she obtained a diploma certificate in Mass Communication and Islamic Studies in 2015.
“After the diploma, RMS enrolled herself in a fashion design school where she learned about sewing women’s clothes. In 2017, she got admission to the National Open University of Nigeria (NOUN). She graduated in 2022 with Second Class (Upper Division) from the Mass Communication department.”
The ICIR further reports that Shittu is an addition to the number of youths currently serving in the Kwara State government, as the state governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq has a record of appointing young women into his cabinet.
In 2021, he signed the law reserving 35 per cent of all political positions for women.
Marcus bears the light, and he beams it everywhere. He's a good governance and decent society advocate. He's The ICIR Reporter of the Year 2022 and has been the organisation's News Editor since September 2023. Contact him via email @ mfatunmole@icirnigeria.org