Ireti Kingibe: Woman On The Mission To Sack Philip Aduda From Senate

Since 2011 when Philip Aduda of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, defeated Adamu Sidi Alli and was elected Senator representing the Federal Capital Territory, he has become invincible to his political opponents.

Aduda first announced his political presence in 1996, when he ran as an independent and was elected a Councillor of Karu Ward.

He took a step further in 2003 when he was elected as a Member of the House of Representatives for AMAC/Bwara and was re-elected to represent Bwari Area Council in the House in 2008 before going all out to emerge as a senator in 2011.

Since then, he has straddled the landscape like a colossus. He had since won the seat twice and he’s serving his third term in the Senate. He got his party’s nod to run for a fourth term in 2023! If he wins, he would be the longest-serving lawmaker in the National Assembly.

But Aduda’s reign at the Senate may be coming to an end if feelers from the electorate in the FCT is any indication.

Opinion polls said to have been conducted project the Labour Party as the favoured party in the territory, and many residents who spoke to THE WHISTLER affirmed the popularity of the LP.

This is a development that is likely going to favour Ireti Kingibe, a senatorial candidate of the LP for the FCT.

To some, the name Ireti Kingibe may not ring a bell politically in Abuja until now. But the ‘Obidient’ Movement growing across the country has thrown up Kingibe as a candidate to watch in next year’s election.

Ireti, the wife of the popular diplomat, Babagana Kingibe, former Secretary to Government of the Federation, who was officially declared elected Vice President by President Muhammadu Buhari for winning the 19993 presidential elections with Moshood Abiola, has her unique approach to politics.

While her husband’s clout is strong enough to take her to the Olympian heights of politics in the country, she is diligently making a name for herself in the FCT where she has continued to identify with the people.

The younger sister to Nigeria’s former First Lady, Ajoke Mohammed, has become an established member of the Obidient Movement that is sending fears across the country in its push against the old order.

When she speaks, she shows empathy for the masses emphasizes the plight of Nigerians. She has effortlessly keyed into the populist narrative of the party’s presidential candidate, Peter Obi.

Kingibe told THE WHISTLER on the side-line of a book launch in honour of Obi on Thursday in Abuja that lawmaking is service to the people.

The Civil Engineering graduate was the reviewer of the book titled The Challenges Of Good Governance – The Peter Obi Factor, where she described Obi “as not just a national phenomenon but a pan-Africanist,” whose empathy and down- to- earth approach to governance transcends Nigeria and Africa to South America.

She told Nigerians that, “What happens on election day depends on them” as Obi’s emergence has presented a unique opportunity to change the narrative to install a progressive and secure country. . She declared that Obi is a detachment from the past and an opportunity that must not be missed.

She told THE WHISTLER that her plan for the FCT is “to adopt a grassroot approach by developing a road map in agriculture and agro-processing, gender mainstreaming, among other core areas that will impact directly on the people.”

Across Abuja, talks had been on about how and who would make the difference for the people to realise the dividend of democracy, and now it seems the resident found the answer in Kingibe.

A known philanthropist and a multiple-award winner, Ireti worked as Quality Control Engineer at Bradley Precast Concrete Incorporated in Minnesota, USA, as well as Roads and Highway Designer in the Minnesota Department of Transportation before returning to Nigeria.

Her experience in the US obviously ignited her interest in partisan politics, having seen democracy at work.

Loved by FCT residents who have pressured her to represent them since 2014, she promised to make life better for residents. “You can count on fairness from me; you can count on me in carrying along everyone who lives in the FCT, regardless of tribe or religion; you can count on transparency and integrity from me; that is what, I’m assuring you, to begin with,” she said.

Despite the rising popularity of the LP on account of Obi’s appeal, she has held her own and continues to engage FCT residents in the six area councils. While on a visit to Abaji on Thursday, she promised to work with the incoming government, which she hopes would be the Labour Party, to end the pervasive insecurity confronting the people.

She promised to take up the fight and bandits who continue to terrorise Abaji and some of the council areas of the FCT if elected senator, and ensure the people are well protected to enable farmers go back to their farms.

With many indigenes and non-indigenes of the FCT riding on the Obidient train, the clock may have begun to count down for Sen Aduda, and his time in the red chamber may be coming to an end.