WIMBIZ commends women vying for political office in 2019

Women in Management , Business and Public Service (WIMBIZ) has commended the efforts of women vying for elective offices in 2019, particularly those going for the presidential race.

As the 2019 general election draws near, WIMBIZ said it is still on the drive to encourage women to exercise their legal rights and obligations in politics and governance.

“We salute all women who have offered themselves to serve across all tiers of governance to date,” the group said.

WIMBIZ called on all eligible female contestants and voters in Nigeria to ‘ Run, Vote & Get Involved.’ “We must shun excuses and play our part in ensuring Nigeria moves ahead in 2019, and beyond,” it said.

The group congratulates the women for having the courage to step out to ensure better representation for women in the decision making circles of Nigeria. WIMBIZ specially commend the courage of Angela Johnson, Presidential candidate for Alliance for United Nigeria (AUN), Eunice Atuejide, Presidential candidate National Interest Party (NIP), Funmila yoa desanya - davies, Presidential candidate of Mass Action Joint alliance (Maja), and obyezekwesili, Presidential candidate of Allied Congress Party of Nige- ria (ACPN) amongst others.

It also salutes the efforts of all the past female presidential candidates like Sarah Jibril and Remi Sonaiya, who were the forerunners to challenge the status quo and demonstrate that women can run for the highest office in the land.

According to WIMBIZ, these women have taken a critical step in urging other women to follow as statistics show that women are largely underrepresented in the Nigerian political landscape. WIMBIZ, through its committee on Women in Politics (WIMPOL), observed that in 2015, out of the 109 seats available in the Senate, only 8 seats were won by women. In 2017 out of 108 seats, only 7 seats were occupied by female Senators (6.5%). This poor level of representation is no better in the House of Representatives, where in 2015, out of 360 representatives, only 5.3%, just 19, are women. In 2017 the figure rose marginally to 20 (5.6% of available seats).

The numbers are equally very low across all other tiers of government. It is a proven fact that in countries like Rwanda and Norway where there is a significant proportion of women in government, development is fast-tracked. Our clarion call is specifically to get more women involved in the electoral process. Eligible women must go out and vote for candidates of their choice, and not just be bystanders in the process of democracy and nation building.