The apex body of Northern women, Jam’iyyar Matan Arewa (JMA), has called on women in the region to come out and save the Adamawa State governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Senator Aisha Binani, from alleged gang up by men who do not want women to succeed in politics.
Addressing a press conference in Kaduna, the President of JMA, Hajiya Rabi Saulawa, said men had been consistent in ganging up against women in politics, especially in Northern Nigeria, citing the case of late Aisha Alhassan of Taraba State and Binani of Adamawa.
Recall that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) declared the Adamawa State governorship election inconclusive and rescheduled it for April 15.
Candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and incumbent Governor of the state, Ahmadu Fintiri, scored 421,524 votes, while Binani polled 390,275 votes before the election was declared inconclusive.
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Hajiya Rabi said, “In the National Assembly elections, only three female senators were elected out of a total of 109; 15 female members of the House of Representatives were elected out of 360 members.
“To compound our myriad of gender-related problems in the North, we have only one Northern female senator and five honourables in the Houses of Assembly. Being born female in the North automatically makes you a third class citizen that should not be seen or heard, and this has more to do with culture than religion.
“A nation that refuses to allow half of its population, which happens to be us women, to give its quota in its development cannot prosper. The irony of elections is that the majority of the voters that actually come out to vote are women, and we go there to vote in men that continue to make our lives more difficult.”
Similarly, a group of women staged a peaceful protest in Zango Kataf Local Government Area to demand a review of the Kaduna governorship election result.
The women in their numbers who began the protest match from Samaru Kataf Roundabout to the INEC office in Zonkwa and the council secretariat lamented alleged injustice by INEC by declaring a result that was allegedly doctored.
While LGA secretariat to register their grievances, one of the leaders of the protesters, Mrs. Dorcas David called on INEC to not only review the results as announced by the returning officer, but declare the candidate of the PDP, Isa Ashiru as the winner because of the massive support he enjoyed across the state by the people through their votes.
She called on leaders of the PDP in the state to follow all legal means to retrieve the stolen mandate in the interest of justice and equity.
Responding, the chairman, Zango Kataf LGA, Francis Sani, who spoke through the council secretary, appreciated the women for their peaceful conduct and pledged to forward their grievances to the appropriate quotas.
From Maryam Ahmadu-Suka, (Kaduna) &Ahmed Ali ( Kafanchan)
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