Ireti Heebah Kingibe
Senate Representative for The Federal Capital Territory (FCT)
Ireti Heebah Kingibe.
REPRESENTATIVE OF THE FCT SENATORIAL DISTRICT.
Early Life & Career.
Ireti, was born and raised in a culturally diverse home to a Yoruba-Fulani Muslim father and a Delta Ibo-Bonny Christian Mother. She speaks Hausa, Yoruba and Igbo fluently.
Ireti's started her education at Emotan Preparatory School, where she had her elementary education before heading to Queen’s College in Lagos and Washington Irving High School for her secondary education. She then headed to the University of Minnesota, where she bagged a degree in Civil Engineering.
Ireti began her career as a Quality Control Engineer with Bradley Precast Concrete Inc. from 1978 to 1979. She then moved on to work with the Minnesota Department of Transportation Design unit, where she also worked as an engineer from 1979 and 1991.She returned to Nigeria for her one-year mandatory service year between 1981 and1982. She was posted to work as a project Supervisor with the Nigerian Air Force base in Ikeja, Lagos.
In 1982 she got to work with the New Nigeria Construction Company, Kaduna as a planning engineer. In 1985, she left New Nigeria Construction Company to work as a consultant for Belsam Limited. Ireti then became the regional engineer for Lodigiani Nigeria Limited Lagos between 1990 and 1994.
She remained active in the private sector as a senior Partner with Kelnic Associates, Abuja, and has been a major supporter of many philanthropic endeavors
Ireti's Political Journey.
Ireti entered partisan politics in 1990 when she joined the defunct Social Democratic Party (SDP). She was appointed as the Adviser to the party’s national chairman. She has since been on a purposeful quest for elective office, fueled by her conviction that Nigeria can become a first class nation, providing continuous energy, personal security, quality education, disciplined institutions and affordable healthcare to all her citizens.
She joined Labour Party in 2022 and became the FCT senatorial candidate for the 2023general elections. Before the elections, she pledged her basic salary (if she should win) to a special fund to tackle infrastructural deficits in the rural communities within the nation's capital.
On Tuesday, 28 February 2023, Sanni Saka, INEC returning officer, announced the result that confirmed Kingibe as the winner of the senatorial seat in Abuja. The electoral commission announced that she received 202,175 votes across the five area councils where results were declared to emerge the winner.
On Tuesday, 13 June, 2023, Ireti was was among the 109 senators sworn into office as a member of the 10th National Assembly of the Republic of Nigeria.
Ireti Makes History.
Since the beginning of Nigeria's democratic leadership history, the FCT has only had one female senator.
Ireti's record win for the seat of FCT Senator happened just few days before the 2023 International Women’s Day (IWD). The Engineer-turned-politician is the second (2nd) female ever to be elected into the office of the Senator for the FCT, and she is one of three women who were elected into the 10th Nigerian Senate.
The Senatorial seat is the highest elective office in the FCT and the senator works closely with the Minister of FCT to represent the people and also take care of the FCT infrastructure.
Message from Ireti.
I strongly believe that embracing our diversity is key to securing peace, unity and sustainable development in Nigeria.
We must no longer be defined as a failed state, battling with intellectual and human capital drain, decaying and non-functioning institutions that we are today.
I am driven by my deeply held belief that a sustainably prosperous future for this country is attainable, and my strong commitment to participating in ushering our great nation into an era of good governance, transparent, competent, responsive, capable, accountable and inclusive leadership, shared prosperity and peaceful progress.
I have lived in the FCT since 1988 and I am committed to Advocate for, Accelerate and Administer Strategic Community-based Development Impact Programs across 17 development sectors, in line with the Goals for Sustainable Development for my constituency.
As I have accepted this call to service, I need your support to ensure that we “Grow a better and Greater Abuja” that embodies Security, Gender equality, Improved Healthcare, Quality Education, Green and Circular Economy, Infrastructure Development, Energy Efficiency and Sustainable Transport.
I am asking you to join me in delivering this message and actualizing this vision for a more inclusively prosperous and sustainable future, where no one is left behind.
