…PDP should give better reason for election boycott
Nasarawa State Governor, Abdullahi Sule, has reiterated the All Progressives Congress (APC) commitment to honoring the stakeholders’ decision to ensure a minimum of one female councillor from each of the 13 local government areas participates in the party.
Governor Sule made this statement when he hosted various women’s groups from across the state, led by the Minister of State for Police Affairs, Imaan Suleiman Ibrahim, at the Government House on Tuesday.
According to the Governor during the recent expanded stakeholders meeting of the APC, it was agreed that the party must produce one female as councillor from each local government area.
The stakeholders meeting of the APC that we had where clearly we agreed before going to the meeting that we must have not less than a woman in every local government to be represented.
He added that there is also the option to consider women for other positions such as deputy chairmen and local government secretaries.
Governor Sule however expressed concern over the likelihood of women not to be able to purchase nomination forms across each of the 13 local government area, especially that every council is expected to nominate at least one female candidate.
“Because we selected consensus, we stated in the consensus that as the stakeholders sit together at least one female must be selected.This is our agreement. The only thing that I would plead is to find out at least a woman has bought a form. That is why we charge you less for the forms so that women should be able to buy the forms. What I would not like to hear is a situation I will come out and say we must have a woman in this local government and there would be none whatsoever that has bought the form,” he said.
He explained that he has no problem whatsoever if four or five women bought the form and are considered from any local government but he insisted that a female must be nominated since women also worked hard to return the APC in the state.
Governor Sule said his administration would continue to accord the desired respect for women, noting that only recently, Vice President Senator Kashim Shettima launched a document which is a gender equality document that is the first of its kind in Nigeria.
“In addition to that, just like you have prayed, we are also going to look at the other positions. We can pick dedicated women to be local government secretaries. One thing I can tell you for sure, we have agreed that there must be at least one woman councillor from every local government area,” he said.
He directed for the women to find out in which local government areas women were unable to purchase the forms, disclosing plans to ensure that atleast one female gets the form from each of the 13 local government areas.
“If there were any particular local government where some women wanted to buy forms and for some reasons they couldn’t, we will work out a way to ensure that they buy forms. Because we made a commitment there must be a woman. As a party, we must be sensitive enough and respect our promise,” he added.
The Governor warmed however that the APC is not re-opening the sell of forms but would take the measure in order to accommodate women.
This is just as he asked the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the state to find a better reason for boycotting the November 2, council elections than the N1.5m cost of nomination form charged by the Nasarawa State Independent Electoral Commission (NASIEC).
“The opposition are already scared. They actually checkout saying they are not going to participate in the election. They are giving flimsy excuses, that the coat of the form by NASIEC is N1.5m.
“They should just say they are scared. No problem. We can allow them but not because of N1.5m. When in some states they are charging N10-N15m. If N1.5m is their reason for quitting then that is laughable,” he said.
The Governor used the opportunity to appreciate the Nasarawa State House of Assembly member representing Nasarawa Central, Hon. Hajara Danyaro, who represented the Minister of State for Police Affairs at the event, for always being upbeat in her support for the rights of women.
“If you understand the culture and nature of our own society, when she was selected and as the candidate of our party, I was thinking we are going to have challenges in that area because central Nasarawa. But she is now representing them in a way now nobody has represented them before,” he stated.
He further restated his appreciation to the entire women body across the state for their participation in the last general election and for making sure his administration was returned.
Regarding the call for Dr Esther Alu to be considered automatically for chairmanship position of Nasarawa Eggon, Governor Sule said it is only the stakeholders from the council who are in position to decide if she picks the chairmanship ticket of the party.
In her remarks, Commissioner for Women Affairs, Hajiya Aishatu Rufai, said they were at the Government House to galvanize support for women participation in politics.
While appreciating the Governor’s efforts towards inclusiveness of women in governance and decision making, the women affairs commissioner lamented that even though women contribute significantly to political activities, their representation in political activities is nothing to write home about.
“We are here to appeal to you, to plead with you and to lobby for more women participation in politics. We know you are a He-for-She Governor and you have supported us. We know you will continue to support us,” she said.
Hajiya Aishatu urged the Governor to be intentional in supporting the cause of women, particularly that a number of women have indicated interest in participating in the coming council polls.
On her part, Hon. Hajara Danyaro, recalled her recent advocacy visit to the state secretariat of the APC where she advocated for more women inclusion during the November 2 local government election.
“It will interest you to know that Nasarawa State has 147 electoral wards and out of these wards, unfortunately, I am even ashamed to mention it, only four are female councillors. As a result of that advocacy visit to the party, we have seen a shift in number based on the speech of our party chairman, Dr Aliyu Bello where he said in this election, at least a woman must come for each local government as a councillor,” she said.
The lawmaker however made case for Dr. Esther Alu from Nasarawa Eggon Local Government Area, who happens to be the only female aspirant running for the seat of the chairman.
“We requested for at least three local government chairmen out of 13. So that His Excellency will give each zone to produce a woman. Today, we are lucky and happy to tell His Excellency that we have only one woman that purchased the form at 50 percent discount for women. That is Dr Esther Alu from Nasarawa Eggon.
“The women of Nasarawa State are here to tell you that this beautiful woman, this intelligent, this committed and dedicated woman is still battling with the men. They still don’t want to allow her the only woman out of 13. It it to expected that Dr Esther should be automatically considered by His Excellency,” she pleaded.
In her address, State Woman Leader of the APC, Mrs. Blessing Ebuga, disclosed that already, 26 women have picked nomination forms to contest for the councillorship seats across the 13 local government areas.
