Nigeria’s first female to be elected as Governor has emerged from Adamawa, North-East Nigeria. She is Senator Aisha Binani of the All Progressive Congress.

Binani apart from being the first female to be so elected, also defeated an incumbent, Governor Ahmadu Fintiri.

She becomes the country’s first female governor from a part of the country where girl education was low and women are not considered to be fit for higher responsibilities. A dream Senator Uche Ekwunife of Anambra State hoped to achieve.

To achieve this feat, she had to defeat Mr Fintiri.

After the announcement of results from 10 of Adamawa’s 21 local government areas, Mr Fintiri polled 186,536 votes while Binani had 179,264 votes, a difference of about 7,000 votes.

Binani did not only face an incumbent, she also ran against religious and cultural biases that have long stood against women in contests for power in Nigeria.

Binani, a serving senator, is popular in the state mainly for her philanthropy, although she faces a strong challenger in the incumbent who is credited with major infrastructural work in the state, particularly in the state capital, Yola.

Of the 24 female governorship candidates across the country, Binani was considered the only candidate with a real chance of winning her governorship seat.

Now here she is. A governor.