The senator-elect for the Federal Capital Territory, Ireti Kingibe, who was elected on the platform of the Labour Party, has spoken on her journey to the Red Chamber, plans for her constituency and thoughts on the dwindling women representation in the legislature

Speaking on defeating the senator who has been representing the FCT for 12 years and whether she was confident of victory from the outset, she stated that she was hopeful, adding that "Nobody can predict the future but I did think that the Federal Capital Territory, like everywhere else, needed a change. People always need hope, and whenever you are in any bad situation, you will always hope that if you do this or if you change something things will get better.

"I was hoping that in the search for that hope, they would come to look for Ireti, and Ireti in Yoruba means hope. So, I did see that we could win but I did not expect that we would be so resoundingly voted for. It showed that the country needed something different and they were trying to get it. The victory is not personal to me; it is more about the wishes of the people, more than mine," she said.

Speaking on how she almost left Nigeria a few years ago and how she was motivated to stay back and try again having contested several times in the past, she stated that "that was about two years ago. There were many reasons why I wanted to leave and then I decided to stay. In life, as we go along, we re-evaluate everything we have been doing and make certain decisions. I have been in politics to make a difference, I wanted FCT to progress. Not that it has not, I felt we could have gone far and done more in the last 20 years that I have been in politics. What made me change my mind were fate and the hand of God. A lot of the things that would have made it possible for me to move did not happen, instead political parties came offering me tickets.

"The Labour Party came and in the party were people that I had worked with when I contested in 2003. So, there was also providence, I would say, and the hand of God. That is why I am here. Politics has never been just about me, so if people convinced me this was the time for me to run, I had to concede to their opinion. (Story adapted from The PUNCH)

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