Dep Gov bids for El-Rufai’s seat, to declare Thursday

Deputy Governor of Kaduna State, Dr. Hadiza Sabuwa Balarabe, has concluded arrangements to throw her into the 2023 governorship contest.

Impeccable sources told The Star that Mrs. Balarabe is poised to succeed Governor Nasir El-Rufai.

The sources stated that the deputy governor will formally declare her governorship interest this week.

“Dr. Balarabe is contesting for the governorship seat. She will formally declare her interest to succeed Governor El-Rufai on Thursday in Kaduna,” one of the sources told The Star.

Dr. Balarabe will be contesting the governorship ticket of the All Progressives Congress (APC) with two of El-Rufai’s political associates who have formally declared their intention.

Senator Uba Sani (Kaduna Central), a former Political Adviser to Governor El-Rufai, and Commissioner for Budget and Planning, Mohammed Sani, declared their governorship interest last week.

Balarabe is the first female deputy governor in Kaduna State.

Senator: Why I want El-Rufai’s job

The deputy governor made a foray into politics in 2018 when Governor El-Rufai nominated her as his running mate for the 2019 governorship election.

She was sworn in as Deputy Governor on May 29, 2019.

Born on August 26, 1966, Hadiza studied Medicine at the University of Maiduguri, Borno State, from 1982 to 1988.

According to her resume, she began her career in 1990 as a Medical Officer/Senior Medical Officer I and II at Wuse General Hospital, Abuja, where she served for seven years, from 1991 to 1998. She moved to Ahmadu Bello University Teaching Hospital, Zaria, in December 1998 as Senior House Officer/Registrar and became Senior Registrar. In March 2004, she returned to the FCT as Principal Medical Officer (Epidemiology) in the Department of Public Health, which she held from April 2004- June 2005.
She became Director of Public Health in the FCT in 2014. She held the position until February 2016 when Governor El-Rufai appointed her as Executive Secretary of the Kaduna State Primary Health Care Development Agency.

Dr. Balarabe is a member of the Nigeria Medical Association (NMA), Association of Public Health Physicians (APHP), Society for Public Health Practitioners in Nigeria (SPHPN), and Medical and Dental Consultants Association of Nigeria (MDCAN).

The Star