A Nigerian women rights movement under the aegis of 100 Women Lobby Group on Monday called on political parties to liberalise the political space in the 2023 general election by ensuring that women get enough space in elective positions.
As part of the liberalisation, the organisation advised political parties not to ask for money from candidates seeking election or make it reasonable, if they should collect money because Nigeria cannot be sold to the highest bidder.
“Religious and traditional institutions should liberalize leadership structures to guarantee unfettered access by the female folk to leadership positions in their hierarchy, such that women can become Queens, Obas, Ezes, Emirs, heads of community associations, etc”, the organisation also said.
While calling on traditional rulers to stop some practices which tend to limit the advancement of women in rightful positions, the movement said it would “send a petition to many stakeholders on the need to bridge the gaps in the collective efforts to increase the capacity of Nigerian women to move Nigeria forward in the political sphere.”
The national coordinator of 100 WLG and President of Change Managers Network, Felicia Onibon, said this during a press conference to disseminate the findings of its 2021 survey on the state of Nigerian women in political participation titled: ‘Improving electoral integrity and accountability in Nigeria project.’
The event was attended by the President, Women in Politics Forum, Ebere Ifendu; Consultant for Change Managers International Network, Ignatius Agu; Development Communication expert, Thomas Odemwingie; Board member, 100 WLG, Tayo Erinle and South East coordinator, Irene Ugbah.
According to Odemwingie, women should present themselves for elective positions because there is a party structure in Nigeria.
He said any woman who wants to be President without a political party structure would be wasting resources and intellect.
Onibon said, “Nigerian women deserve enough space in 2023. Political parties should reduce the financial demands on women seeking elective positions.
“But what we are saying is that political parties should not ask for such money (for forms) from anybody. Although asking for it is one of the ways of raising funds, they should be reasonable about it because we cannot sell Nigeria to the highest bidder who may be a thief or getting money from corrupt practices. Where are we going with that? Both men and women will suffer from it.
“Although political parties have been collecting money for forms, it can be changed because such practices are not cast on stones.”
According to her, from Independence, the issue of women marginalization and exclusion in political participation and decision making in the Nigerian space has been a source of concern to well-meaning and inclusion-minded Nigerians.
She regretted that despite the huge contribution of women in national development in Nigeria, that had been well documented, there still existed low representation and participation of women in the political process.
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