Women activists under the umbrella of Women Advocate Research and Documentation Centre (WARDC) on Wednesday staged a rally in Lagos in support of women aspirants for various positions in the 2019 general elections.
The women stormed the secretariats of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and Labour Party (LP) in the state to secure the commitment of the parties’ leaderships to remove all impediments in the way of women participation in the electoral process and to advocate for more women participation in the governance of the country at all levels.
The demonstration is to hold in six states in the countries, including Lagos, Kaduna, Enugu, Jigawa, Adamawa and Anambra with the protesters demanding for the implementation of 35 percent affirmative policy for women in the governance of the country.
Executive Director of WARDC, Dr. (Mrs.) Abiola Afolabi-Akiyode said the numerical strength of women should be used to support women in various states aspiring for political offices in the coming dispensation.
According to her, there is need for gender justice in politics.
The purpose of today’s gathering is to go round political parties and ask the leaders to ensure that there is an internal democracy which will facilitate women position in the decision making,” she said.
She added that political parties which refused to recognise the need to have women as their candidates would be denied women votes in the coming elections.
“If there is a male governor then the female should be his deputy and in cases where 3 senatorial slots are allocated to a state, at least a female candidate should have one.
“We have 360 Members of the House of Representatives, our plea here today is a one-third of the number which also applies to the Senate because when we look at the number of voters, women make the bulk of the voters and that is why we now call on women from different political parties to support these demands,” she added.
Also speaking, President of Lagos State Women in Politics (LWIP), Dr. Mrs. Ezeude Emilia, explained further that the demonstration was to sensitize and reawaken women on how to use their numerical strength to make their demands known to political parties across the six geo-political zones.
She also insisted that women will not exercise their franchise until the parties meet their demands and blamed the religious sectors and culture for the role allocated to women by feeling that they can be seen but not heard.
“The problem Nigeria is having today is because women have been marginalized. When God created the man, he left him in the company of a woman knowing fully well that no man can function properly without the support of a woman,” she said.
Mrs. Fateema Mohammed, an aspirant for House of Representatives, Ifako-Ijaye Federal Constituency, said women should be allowed to take up the mantle of governance instead of being sidelined and used as cheerleaders during political rallies.
Labour Party Chairman, Mr. Sam Emeka Okpala, told our correspondent that forms for women to participate in various posts were made free in the party to encourage them to participate in politics.
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