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.
“Unfortunately,
Nigeria stands at less than six per cent, making the country, though the ‘Giant
of Africa,’ a midget in comparison to others in this area.”
She begged
the party leaders to join hands with women as various political parties
commenced preparations for 2019 general elections.
Apart from
seeking gender quota, the minister said women were demanding that the APC, the
PDP and other political parties should make women’s wings within political
parties to be part of the political party decision-making structures, formulate
strategies for prevention of violence against women in elections.
Punch
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