Preceded by Bartholomew Nnaji Children 5 | Succeeded by Isoun Turner | |
Born 8 January 1959 (age 58)
Shendam, Plateau State, Nigeria ( 1959-01-08 ) Political party People's Democratic Party (1999 - 2010; 2012 - 2015)
Labour Party (Nigeria) (2011)
All Progressive Congress (2015 - present) | ||
Dame pauline tallen ofr at the premiere of searching the story of a girl child
Pauline Kedem Tellen, OFR (born 8 January 1959 ) is a Nigerian politician. In 1999, she was appointed Minister of State for science and technology to the cabinet of former president, Olusegun Obasanjo. She became deputy governor of Plateau State in 2007, becoming the first woman to be a deputy governor in northern Nigeria. In 2011, she contested to be governor of the state but lost to Jonah Jang. She is presently a member, board of trustees of All Progressive Congress, and was honoured as woman of the year for her contribution to Nigeria at the 10th African Icon of Our Generation Award.
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Early life and education
Tallen is a native of Shendam, to the family of Kattiems. She got a degree in sociology at the University of Jos in 1982.
Political career
Tellen political career started in 1976, when she was the clerical officer at Shendam local government council, then later ministry of local government affairs. In 2011, she joined Labour Party (Nigeria), then contested in the gubernatorial election of the state. By 1994, she was made a councillor in Plateau State. She was made commissioner in the state by the military government between 1994 and 1999.
In 1999, she was appointed Minister of state for science and technology, becoming the first woman to be appointed as a minister in that capacity by former president, Olusegun Obasanjo.
In 2013, Tallen's son took her to court for disrupting his freedom of expression and movement.
Before 2015 general elections, she decamped from PDP to APC, a move she believed angered some people in her state. However, she described the move as a calling from God, with no regrets. In 2015, she rejected an ambassadorial nomination by President Buhari, citing federal character and zoning in her state as reasons. In an interview with Leadership Newspaper, she explained that as deputy governor she contested against the governor for the betterment of the state and because the governor didn't have the interest of the people at heart. She also stated that the victory of President Buhari at the 2015 general elections was divinely orchestrated.
Personal life
She is married to John Tallen, a chieftain of the People's Democratic Party. They have five children.