The Peoples Democratic Party has asked
women to be ready to pay for nomination
forms instead of waiting to be asked to pick
them free by political parties.
It said this would enhance their
participation and also earn them respect in
politics. The Chairman, National Caretaker
Committee of the party, Ahmed Makarfi,
stated this when he received the Minister of
Women Affairs and Social Development,
Senator Jummai Alhassan, at the PDP
headquarters in Abuja on Monday.
Makarfi said the PDP would support the
enactment of a law in support of the gender
parity in politics and participation in
governance.
He said, “If it is in compliance with the law,
everybody will comply, but if you leave it
flexible, it is an escapist route. Forget about
the nomination form, pay and get the ticket.
Let us do the right thing.”
He also made a case for consideration of the
women’s move to secure legislation backing
the 35 per cent affirmative action on
women participation in politics and
government in the ongoing constitutional
amendment process.
While praising the minister for her
productivity, Makarfi said, “I am not very
surprised that you are doing well because
you were trained and brought up by the
PDP.”
Earlier, the minister had asked political
parties to adopt a policy of voluntary
electoral party gender quota system as a
means of guaranteeing more participation
of the womenfolk in politics and
governance.
She described the initiative as a deliberate
strategy of earmarking constituencies solely
for female candidates during an election.
Alhassan lamented that Nigeria remained
one of the most backward and poor
performing countries on the African
continent, in the area of women’s political
participation and leadership.
She said, “Although the Nigerian
constitution guarantees equality for
everyone in all spheres, women have not
enjoyed this constitutional right. As a result,
we have been overtaken by countries like
Rwanda with 66 per cent women’s
representation in parliament, South Africa
with 40 per cent, Seychelles over 50 per
cent, Ghana, 35 per cent and a large chunk
of the other African countries with over 25
per cent.
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