Dr. Azeezat Yishawu has been elected as the first female Speaker of the Nigerian Youth Parliament (NYP).
Gatekeepers News reports that Yishawu, a Lagos State candidate, emerged as the speaker of the 5th Parliament after she garnered 50 votes to defeat her Oyo State counterpart, John Oyelami, who polled 48 votes in a keenly-contested re-run election. The election was held at National Assembly, Abuja, the nation’s capital on Wednesday.
During the first round of balloting, Oyelami had 32 votes, while Yishawu polled 30 votes, with 3 voids.
Yishawu is a member of the Lagos State Youth Parliament with over 4 years of active experience in grassroots mobilization, citizen engagement and stakeholders management. She was the first female speaker of Lagos State University (LASU), Medical Student Association Senate (MSAS).
She has worked with NGOs such as Involve Africa, Constitution Lab to advance political sensitization, democracy and human rights.
Yishawu is a Carrington Youth Alumna, a Fellow at the USA International Visitor Leadership Program and the Young Women Political Leadership School.
An advocate for good governance and expert at galvanising resources for quality political leadership she has consistently worked on impactful projects and championed frontline conversations focused on governance.
Dr. Yishawu is the Founder of Ethics and Political Leadership Foundation- an NGO committed to driving effective democracy, good governance in Nigeria; and Co-founder of ConstitutionLab- a youth-led organization committed to providing Nigerians with working knowledge of the Nigeria Constitution.
The 2023 general election is about 14 months away, the major political parties that visible are the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) and the major opposition, the People’s Democratic Party (PDP).
While the PDP had conducted its nationwide congresses and National convention, with Senator Iyorchia Ayu and National Chairman, the APC had only conducted congresses, which were greeted by crisis and parallel activities across several States.
