2019: Women push for more slots

Women leaders of the APC, PDP, APGA, LP and other political parties have demanded more slots for women in the 2019 general elections.

The women, under the aegis of Women For Women (WFW), said at a press conference yesterday in Abuja, that political parties had taken women for granted and jettisoned the provisions of their constitutions on issues relating to them.

A former Minister of Women Affairs and PDP ex-Women Leader, Hajiya Maryam Inna Ciroma, who read the text of the conference on behalf of other women ahead of today’s occasion of Women’s Day, said for Nigeria’s democracy to be deepened, women must be recognised in the political space.

“Nigeria cannot afford to abandon these commitments nor pretend that they do not count. We are today reminded of their commitment to 35 per cent affirmative action in the National Gender Policy and the similar adoption of Affirmative Action principles by almost all political parties in their constitutions.

“Notwithstanding these positions, progress has been slow in several reversals,” Ciroma said.

Ciroma called on political office seekers to factor the demands of women into their campaigns, including the adoption of deliberate steps to increase women’s participation in politics and leadership.