October 08, (THEWILL) – When she was elected as a member of the Kwara State House of Assembly in March to represent Owode-Onire constituency of Asa Local Government area of the state, 26-year-old Rukayat Shittu, the youngest politician ever to occupy such an elective position in Kwara State and the youngest lawmaker in Nigeria, was beside herself with joy.
Shittu defeated older and more experienced candidates, even an incumbent, to clinch the seat. She got the chance to contest after the Governor of Kwara State, Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq passed a bill in 2021 stipulating that any local government area with two constituencies is mandated to have one man and one woman as its representatives. She was able to purchase the nomination form after the cost was reduced to N500,000 from N1 million. The money was generated through the efforts of her family, friends and associates, as well as from her personal savings. She contested against four candidates in her party’s primary election, which was not free and fair in her constituency as thugs invaded the place to disrupt the process. She later emerged as a consensus candidate on the platform of All Progressives Congress, APC, after a re-run. Unfortunately, now, Shittu’s joy has been cut short as the Election Petition Tribunal sitting in Ilorin has declared the election she emerged winner, inconclusive and ordered a rerun in some polling units. The candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, Abdullahi Yinusa Magaji, had filed a petition challenging her victory at the tribunal. Justice Ademola Enikuomehin, a member of the three-man tribunal who delivered the lead judgment, ordered a rerun in five polling units of the constituency within 90 days.
Hopefully, whatever impact Shittu has made within the past three months will translate positively for her at the polls.
Shittu’s political journey started when she was an undergrauate. In 2019, she emerged the first female Senate President of the congress of the National Open University which covers over 85 study campuses across the federation. She also represented her study centre at the national level. She was a former head of news department of an online publication, ‘Just Event’ and a member of a leading pro-democracy group called ‘Kwara Must Change.’ She is an advocate of girl child’s rights. During her undergraduate days, she combined studies and volunteering at different political organisations.
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