How 9 women emerged victorious in Benue LG poll

In the just concluded local government poll in the 23 local government areas of Benue State, nine women were elected chairmen. The development has raised fresh hope for women showing interest to participate in the 2023 general elections in the state.

 The council election, which held on April 30, 2022 across all the local government areas in the state, produced a total of 9 women and 14 men as chairmen respectively on the platform of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

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The nine newly elected female council chairmen as announced by the chairman of the Benue State Independent Electoral Commission (BSIEC), Tersoo Loko, are Amali Victoria Auchi  (Apa Local Government), Mozeh Judith Iember (Buruku), Mrs Akua Agatha Sewuese  (Gwer East) and Mrs Amile Christina  (Konshisha).

Others are Tor Salome Shiden (Logo), Mrs Torbunde Eunice Kusange (Makurdi), Okwe Evelyn Ichiko (Oju), Audu Amina (Okpokwu) and Chief Mrs Veronica Nyiaii Gajir (Ushongo).

The BSIEC chairman, who formally announced the result of the election at 1:15pm on May 1, 2022 at the commission’s headquarters in Makurdi, also declared the PDP winner of all the councillorship seats in the 276 council wards across the state.

Loko said that four political parties – PDP, All Progressive Grand Alliance (APGA), Labour Party and the Social Democratic Party (SDP) – took part in the exercise held across the 3,000 polling units in the state.

The outcome of the election was, however, not a surprise to many, as a decision to allocate that number of spaces to the womenfolk was earlier taken during a PDP stakeholders meeting in Makurdi two months earlier.

At that expanded meeting of PDP stakeholders in the Benue Government House, Makurdi, it was agreed that each of the three senatorial districts – Benue North East (Zone A), Benue North West (Zone B) and Benue South (Zone C) should dedicate three chairmanship slots for female representation. 

While zones A and B consist of 14 local government areas, Zone C has a total of 9. To achieve this, the stakeholders broke into a zonal session during the meeting to deliberate on the areas where the women would emerge as leaders. In the end, the various zones announced a total of 9 councils reserved for only female aspirants.

Thereafter, the stakeholders went back to their individual local government areas for further deliberations, during which the candidates emerged through consensus. They all went on to  win their elections eventually.

It would be recalled that Governor Samuel Ortom, in his goodwill message to mark this year’s International Women’s Day on March 8, hinted that the local government election would produce 69 women councillors and 9 female chairmen in all the 23 councils, on the platform of the PDP.

His message made the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the state to pull out of the local government election first scheduled to hold on May 7.

The APC had based its decision not to be part of the election on the ground that the result of the exercise was already determined by the state government.

The governor had commended the courage and resilience of Nigerian women to excel, even in the face of cultural and social-economic inhibitions. 

He stated, “Since we came in 2015 we have developed a deliberate policy to give women more opportunities to occupy political offices, which hitherto was not in place. We have a good number of women as appointees, but above all, Benue State under my leadership has given women leadership roles as chairmen of local government areas. 

 “In the forthcoming local government election, our party, the PDP, has liberalised women participation by giving 9 slots to them as council chairpersons. Apart from a certain percentage of women who will be appointed as secretaries of local government councils, there will be 69 elected women councillors in the 23 local governments. This is a good testimony of a government that prioritises the place of women for the development of our state and country.”

Ortom further noted in the statement issued by his spokesman, Nathaniel Ikyur, that his government remained at the forefront to empower Benue women politically and economically in line with the 35 per cent Beijing affirmative action.

He also challenged the leadership of the APC-led National Assembly to borrow a leaf from what he called, “the women development model from Benue State” and not to have jettisoned the clamour for women in the political process of the country. 

It would also be recalled that the state chairman of the APC, Comrade Austin Agada, at a press conference in Makurdi, announced that his party would boycott the election over an alleged dishonesty from the governor.

“On the forthcoming Benue State local government election, we have consulted widely and come to the painful conclusion that our party will not field candidates for the ‘selection’ (election) process owing to the dishonest manner Governor Samuel Ortom and the State Independent Electoral Commission have been conducting their affairs,” he stated.

Agada had added that instead of wasting their resources to participate in the election, “It is safer that we save our scarce resources to teach him a lesson during the 2023 general elections.”

Our correspondent reports that the feat attained by the women did not just happen but was made possible with the consistent push by the wife of the governor, Eunice. Mrs Ortom has, since the inception of the present administration, continued to allege that women in the state are underrepresented in politics.

In her remark during the International Women’s Day celebration, Mrs Ortom emphasised the need for more inclusion of women in elective and appointive positions of governance. She noted that there were over 2.1million women in the state, according to the 2006 census figures.

She called on Nigerians to emulate the global trend by learning to trust and encourage more women into elective positions for the development of the country, while urging women to continue to show determination to overcome all the challenges on their way.

To consolidate on the present feat by women in Benue, the Forum of Female Aspirants (FOFA) under the platform of the PDP in the state and other gender-based civil society organisations, at a recent press conference in Makurdi, called for the consideration of women in the ongoing various consensus plans for elective positions in 2023.

The group expressed worry that the 30 per cent affirmative action of women representation as enshrined in the manifesto of the PDP may not be achieved at the end of the day.

Speaking on behalf of other women at a world press conference, the secretary of the FOFA, Mrs Irene Awanah-Ikyegh, noted that the PDP had failed to ensure equitable representation of women in all aspects of national life, including party organs.

The group alleged that stakeholders of the party had not carried them along, and appealed to them to follow the manifesto of the party, which recommends obedience to the rule of law, so that the order by a Federal High Court asking that the Nigerian government implements the 35 per cent affirmative action across board would be achieved.

The women called on Governor Ortom and other stakeholders of the party to look into the ongoing method of conducting primaries and ensure that it meets the 35 per cent affirmative demand without any hindrance, adding that the over 25 female aspirants who may not scale through as local government delegates be considered for appointments.

“If these are adequately implemented, it will avert a repeat of the casualty that befell our party in nominating women in 2018 when we had only two female state assembly members out of over 30 aspirants. 

“Our dear party has a conglomeration of passionate women who have not only served diligently but also have the capacity and willingness to lead effectively if given the opportunity,” the group stated.

A gender activist, Julie Ooja Okoh, hailed the emergence of the nine women who emerged as chairmen of local governments. She, however, asked for a consideration of more women into elective positions in 2023.

“It is a good signal that we have 23 slots for local government councils and 9 went to women, but it is still not enough for us as women. I have always told people that women are the backbone of political structures, but each time it comes to the issue of allotting positions, women take the back bench. 

“Yes, Benue has tried by giving women 9 positions in local government councils, but it is yet to balance. I think we can do more in the forthcoming elections. 

“In the last election we had just one or two in the House of Representatives. We don’t even have a female senator. At the state House of Assembly, how many of them do we have? And we keep being at the forefront of elections. We are asking for more. In the 2023 elections, we are asking that more positions be given to women,” Okoh added.

Josephine Habba, a gender advocate, also noted, “It is historic that 9 women emerged winners at the council election in Benue. We are hoping that this would continue and bring the 50:50 participation of women in Nigeria or Benue in particular.

“We are hoping that the women would exhibit the capacity that would project them and bring them to the front as humans, not in terms of gender. 

“I think it is a great development and hope that this would lead to more productivity. I think we should begin to check their scorecards by placing them side by side with their male counterparts. It should not just be about gender but their capacity, integrity and intelligence to prove the trust bestowed on them.”