Nigeria 2019: Mama Taraba resigns as Buhari’s women affairs minister, joins UDP

Aisha Alhassan, Nigeria’s women affairs minister, has resigned her position.

Ms Alhassan, known widely as Mama Taraba, was appointed in 2015 by President Muhammadu Buhari.

In a September 29 letter to the president, Ms Alhassan decried her disqualification from contesting for the All Progressives Congress’ governorship ticket in Taraba State, saying the action constituted a grave injustice against her since she paid to purchase the form and had been a loyal member of the party since 2014.

She told the president she decided to resign from the cabinet because the APC has effectively disqualified her from being a minister if the party does not find her fit to be a governorship candidate.

Her resignation, which comes two days after the APC screened her out of aspirants who will participate at the party’s governorship primaries on September 30, came months after speculation that she would resign from the cabinet.

Ms Alhassan’s tenure as minister has been blighted since she publicly disclosed her allegiance to former Vice President Atiku Abubakar in 2017.

Aisha Alhassan, who also dumped the APC on Saturday, has picked the United Democratic Party (UDP), nomination form to contest for the Taraba governorship seat.

Mrs Alhassan, at a press conference shortly after joining UDP and picking its nomination form, claimed that the APC had become “the weakest political party in Taraba” with her defection.

– Premium Times