Former Speaker of the House of Representatives, Rt. Hon Dimeji Bankole, will on Friday, January 15, tie the nuptial knot with Miss Aisha Shinkafi Saidu, daughter of the Governor of Kebbi State, Alhaji Atiku Bagudu.
Bankole, who divorced his first wife in 2017, had in the past few years been a much-sought after bachelor in the circle of eligible spinsters, both within and outside Nigeria. Friday’s marriage ceremony will draw the curtain on rife speculations regarding his matrimonial intentions since the divorce.
The bride, a lawyer and graduate of the University of Hull in the UK, is a granddaughter of late political heavyweight and onetime head of Nigeria Security Organisation (NSO), Alhaji Umaru Shinkafi, Marafan Sokoto. The bride’s mother is Shinkafi’s daughter and a sister to the former Governor of Zamfara State, Alhaji Aliyu Shinkafi.
A statement by the Bankole family of Iporo, Abeokuta, disclosed that a quiet introduction between the two families had taken place a few weeks earlier to kick off the union, in line with Islamic and traditional injunctions.
At the introduction ceremony, the Governor of Sokoto State and Bankole’s successor as Speaker of the House of Representatives, Rt. Hon. Aminu Tambuwal had led the groom’s family to the bride’s family home to seek her hand in marriage.
Friday’s event will be the culmination of a courtship that both families had kept very discrete. Political observers however note that the marriage would appear to straddle Nigeria’s great political divide as Bagudu is the Chairman of the APC Governors Forum while Tambuwal is the National Chairman of the PDP Governors Forum.
Meanwhile, the Bankole family advises that in keeping with the requirements of COVID-19 protocols, the ceremony will be low key. It therefore implores invited guests to observe all health and safety directives at the event while appealing to friends and well-wishers who may not have received invitations for their understanding given the uncertainties of the present times.