Decision Time For Hadiza Balarabe

The deputy governor of Kaduna, Hadiza Balarabe, has given no hint about her future plans. But the time is approaching for her to decide whether to stay in politics beyond 2027 or call it quits.

Balarabe, a physician and public health consultant, has been bound to Governor Uba Sani and the APC for the last three years. After 29 May 2027, she will also have to decide whether to stick with Uba Sani’s camp or go with Nasir El-Rufai in the opposition ADC.

She previously served as deputy governor under El-Rufai from 2019 to 2023. And when Governor Sani secured the APC ticket back in 2022, he again picked Balarabe as his deputy.

She was drafted into the political arena by el-Rufai, who appointed her Executive Secretary, Kaduna Primary Healthcare Development Agency, in 2016 and previously director of Public Health in the FCT

Before Hadiza Balarabe, there was Aisha Pamela Sadauki, who served as deputy governor of Kaduna for about 18 months between 1990 and 1992. Sadauki was the deputy governor in a hybrid regime.

While she was a civilian appointed to the position, the state’s then-governor was Tanko Ayuba, a military officer. The election of Dabo Lere as governor displaced Sadauki as deputy governor, after which she faded from public view.