2019: SARAKI PLEDGE TO WORK FOR INCREASE PARTICIPATION OF WOMEN IN POLITICS
“Political parties are now gearing up for election, this is the right time we must begin to demand from political parties and candidates that they must tell Nigerians what their policy is on gender affirmation. You have the votes, at least you have 46 – 48 per cent, let your votes do the work and if your votes do the work, then you will make the work easier for all of us’.
“It is time for you to mobilize and work for it because it is important. A lot of us who have had the experience have found out, without any bias, that generally female politicians/parliamentarians are very committed, hardworking and more importantly very consistent and loyal.I think when you build a country and you build a political space, what is important is consistency and sometimes loyalty,” he said.
Earlier, the Chairperson of the group, Hon. Elizabeth Uyinmwen Ativie, decried the low level of women participation in the nation’s governance since 1999, in terms of both elective and appointive offices.
Ativie, who is the member representing Uhunmwode Constituency in the Edo State House of Assembly, however commended the President of the Senate for influencing the nomination and election of five women into the Kwara State House of Assembly during the 2015 general elections.
“Nigeria needs to invest in women’s participation in politics by creating an enabling environment for women to thrive and tackle perceived systemic and cultural hinderances to women’s inclusion,” she said.
She sought the support of the President of the Senate for the quick passage of the Gender and Equal Opportunity Bill, implementation of 35 per cent affirmative action strategy and the abrogation of laws that infringe on citizens’ rights of women, among others.
