Premium Times, a prominent Nigerian news outlet, published a report on vice president-elect Kashim Shettima’s, attendance at a book launch in Abuja.
It was reported that Shettima made a number of historical assertions while demonstrating the commitment of Bola Ahmed Tinubu, the incoming president, to gender-related issues.
The claims were investigated by the CDD Election War Room to determine their veracity and here is what we found.
Claim I: Tinubu was the first governor to appoint a female as his deputy.
Verification
The first female deputy governors came in two varieties: one was appointed and one was elected.
Selected deputy governor
Okunnu Lateefa Modupeola was the first woman to be “selected” as a deputy governor. She served between 1988 and 1991 as Raji Rasaki’s deputy, the Military Governor of Lagos State.
Similarly in 1990, Aisha Pamela Sadauki was appointed by the military regime of Ibrahim Babangida, to serve as the deputy governor to Abubakar Tanko Ayuba, then military governor of Kaduna State.
Elected deputy governor
Sinatu Ojukutu is the first woman to be “elected” as deputy governor in Nigeria. She was elected during Nigeria’s brief third republic, alongside former Lagos state governor Michael Otedola, who chose her as his running mate under the auspices of the National Republican Convention (NRC). They were elected in 1992 and later ousted from power following the military takeover in 1993.
Who was Tinubu’s deputy?
Bola Ahmed Tinubu was the governor of Lagos from 1999 to 2007.
Kofoworola Bucknor- Akerele served as his deputy during his first term, from 1999 to 2003. For Tinubu’s second term from 2003-2007, she was succeeded by Femi Pedro.
Kasim Shettima had in 2022 made the false claim that Tinubu was the first governor to elect a woman as his deputy. He was factchecked by several fact-checking organixations and news outlets.
Verdict: FALSE
The claim that the first female deputy was selected by Bola Tinubu is false.
Claim II: Tinubu was the first person to appoint a woman as the chief judge of a state
Verification
The first woman to hold the position of chief judge in Nigeria was Rosaline Ajoke Omotosho. She served as Lagos State’s chief judge from April 12, 1995, until her retirement on February 27, 1996, three years before Tinubu became the governor of Lagos state. She was also the first female judge in West Africa. Since then, numerous states across the nation have appointed women to fill the highest judicial position. Another woman, Ibitola Adebisi Sotuminu, served as the state’s chief judge from 2001 to 2004, when Bola Tinubu was Lagos’ governor.
Nigeria appointed its first female Chief Justice of the Federation, Aloma Mariam Muktar. Her appointment was in 2012, during the administration of former President Goodluck Jonathan.
In 2015, the Lagos State government constructed a new courthouse in honour of Rosaline Omotosho, the first female chief judge of the state, as a way to immortalise her.
Verdict: FALSE
The claim that Bola Tinubu appointed the first female chief judge is false.