.Speaker says minister overstepping her bounds, stops ceremony 

Minister of Women Affairs, Uju Kennedy-Ohanenye, has petitioned the Inspector General of Police (IGP), Kayode Egbetokun, and sought a court injunction to stop the Niger State House of Assembly Speaker, Abdulmalik Sarkindaji, from marrying off 100 orphaned girls in the state.

But the speaker blasted the minister for “overstepping her bounds,” while announcing that the planned wedding had been cancelled.

Kennedy-Ohanenye’s action, which she made known at a briefing, in Abuja, yesterday, was a reaction to the recent declaration by Sarkindaji that the girls, who were orphaned by banditry in Mairiga Local Council, under his constituency, would be betrothed due to the challenge of their upkeep.

According to the speaker, marrying off the orphaned girls would be part of his constituency project to the people of Mairiga on May 24, 2024.  He pledged to pay the bride price for the bridegrooms and procure necessary items for the mass wedding to interested bridegrooms.

Disagreeing with the speaker, the minister said: “I want to let the speaker know that this is unacceptable by the Minister of Women Affairs and the government. These children and their future must be considered.”

Expressing disappointment over the speaker’s action, she said the Federal Government had gone to court to prevent such a move and would ensure justice for the helpless victims.

“I have gone to court. I have written him (speaker) a letter and petitioned the IGP. I have also filed an injunction to stop him from whatever he is planning to do on May 24, until a thorough investigation is carried out on those girls to find out whether they gave their consent, their ages and the people marrying them,” she said.

The minister said a full investigation has commenced on the issue to understand what led to such a scandalous suggestion.

Kennedy-Ohanenye: “As the speaker did not think about empowering these women, sending them to school, giving them some kind of training or financial support, the Women Affairs ministry has decided to take it up and we are going to educate the children.”

“Those that do not want to go to school, we will train them in a skill, empower them with sustainable tools to enable them to build their lives and decide to whom and when to get married.”

According to her, if for any reason the speaker tries to act contrary, there will be a serious legal battle between him and the ministry.
The  speaker during a briefing, yesterday, said he would not grace the wedding and asked the minister to sponsor the ceremony.

He added that the funds he had already made available to the girls’ parents through the traditional leaders and clerics of his constituency would not be withdrawn.

Sarkindaji said the state of poverty among the girls’ parents moved him to sponsor the wedding, but not as a constituency project, as reported in the media.