69 year old Ipalibo Gogo Banigo is the deputy governor of Rivers state.
Just like the 54year old Governor Ezenwo Nyesom Wike, she is on the last leg of her second term in office.
Wike and Banigo – nee Harry – were first sworn into office in 2015 and won re-election together in 2019.
Banigo born on 20 December 1952 is listed as the first female deputy governor of Rivers State.
SocietyNow.Ng’s digs revealed that Banigo is a medical doctor who began her career at the Rivers State Port Health Service and went on to become Director of Public Health Services, Acting Commissioner, Director – General and Permanent Secretary in the Rivers State Ministry of Health.
In 1995, Banigo who holds a Bachelor of Medicine, and Bachelor of Surgery from the University College Hospital, Ibadan, and attended Harvard University School of Public Health for her master’s degree was appointed the Secretary to the Government of Rivers State.
She also had a stint as the Head of Service before her retirement.
In retirement, she continued to provide professional services to the likes of Shell Petroleum Development Company, Governing Council of the University of Calabar, Governing Board of University of Nigeria Teaching Hospital, and Rivers State Food and Nutrition Committee before Wike nominated her as his running mate for the 2015 election that provided the historic win as the first female deputy Governor of Rivers State.
Though Banigo is not as visible as Wike in the eye of the public regarding the politics of Rivers State and the People’s Democratic Party, SocietyNow.Ng gathered that the Queens College Lagos Best All-Round Student of The Year from 1969 to 1970 is leaving her fingerprints on governance.
“For example, she is in charge of the panel activating moribund health facilities in the state among other things” SocietyNow.Ng learned.
