The presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, Atiku Abubakar, and his running mate, Ifeanyi Okowa, were on Tuesday absent at the sixth edition of Voice of Women 2022 Conference and Awards in Abuja on Tuesday.
The event, organised by Women Radio 91.7 FM and Voice of Women Empowerment Foundation, with support from MacArthur Foundation, with the theme, ‘Towards rebuilding Nigeria: An agenda for an inclusive and accountable Nigeria’, provided an opportunity for presidential candidates or their running mates to explain their plans and commitments to Nigerian women on the 2023 elections.
The presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, was absent, although represented by his running mate, Kashim Shettima.
Shettima assured Nigerian women that the Tinubu’s administration would be friendly to them, if voted into power in 2023.
The presidential candidate of Labour Party, Peter Obi, promised to support the making of a new law to guarantee the reservation of a specific percentage of all elective and appointive positions for women and youths.
Shettima said the APC would make equity and fairness to women a top priority of the Asiwaju Tinubu administration.
He said, “The Asiwaju administration will be a government that will be friendly to women. They are the backbone of our society because they constitute over 50 per cent of our total population.
“If Nigeria will reach its full fullest potential, we must give every person and segment of the population a fair chance to make their best contribution to the well-being and betterment of our nation.
“The growth of our economy and achievement of our nation and destiny rests on equity and the safeguarding of the fundamental rights and decency in our society. This means ending all forms of divisive biases, including gender discrimination.”
Obi stated that although the country was collapsing, women could contribute laudably to saving it.
While recalling the contributions made by the women in his cabinet towards his success as governor of Anambra State, he said they were more productive than the men.
He said, “You mothers are the ones that will suffer more, if things go wrong. For me, I believe in the women and I believe they can save the country.
“As Anambra governor, I had a female deputy. My chief of staff was a woman. My commissioners for planning, local government affairs, education, and finance were women, including the State Accountant-General in my tenure was also a woman.
“Women were far more productive than the men. Today, I will attribute my success as a governor to those women in my cabinet. They were brave enough to say to me on many occasions ‘No, you can’t do this because children are involved.’
“For me, women are critical in the efforts to move the country forward. If we want to make progress, we have to surround ourselves with the 50 per cent of our population that we are neglecting, but I am going to invest in women.
“What we are going through today is the cumulative effects of leadership failure. We are now about to pick a new leadership.
“We must go beyond all the considerations of yesterday, and think about the future of this country. We can’t do it without women in the driving seat.
“We need to make a law giving women and youths a certain percentage of all elective and appointive position like in Bangladesh.”
The presidential candidate of African Democratic Congress, Dumebi Kachikwu, expressed optimism that his presidency would change the negative narrative about marginalisation of women in Nigeria.
“Women have suffered for us, yet marginalised. But I promise to change the narrative and make women to be part of my government”, he said.
Wife of the President, Aisha Buhari, represented by the Senior Special Assistant to the President (Administration and Women Affairs) in the Office of the First Lady, Rukkayat Gurin, stated that the role of women in the electoral process cannot be overemphasised.
She warned political parties against gender discrimination.
Aisha Buhari said, “Our participation in this election is necessary. I encourage every political party to support women and shun electoral violence against them.
“Nigerian women are competent and have the capability to serve. I want to reaffirm to you that the government of Muhammadu Buhari, is committed to making the 2023 electoral process credible and violence-free.”
Gender equity, balance a herculean task for political parties – INEC chairman
The Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, represented by a National Commissioner, May Agbamuche-Mbu, while delivering the keynote speech, explained why achieving success in encouraging gender equity and balance within the political parties had become a herculean task.
He said, “Until there’s an enforceable legislation that is gender responsive in terms of their leadership structure as well as policies and practices, the political parties may be limited to just sustaining engagements, advocacies, moral persuasions and capacity building programmes for female aspirants and candidates.”
Womanifesto tables Charter of Demands
The Executive Director of Women Advocates Research and Documentation Centre and Convener of Womanifesto, Abiola Akioye-Afolabi, while presenting the Charter of Demands to the presidential candidates, described it as a social accountability process.
“It (the Charter of Demands) is very important to us and we are going to hold the presidential candidates accountable to some of these issues.
“Why? It is because as women in Nigeria, we are tired of playing the second fiddle; tired of being considered as second class citizens; tired of being seen and not heard. We want to be on the decision making table”, she said.
