President of the Senate, Bukola
Saraki on Wednesday promised to ensure that a greater number of women are given
the opportunity to vie and occupy elective offices during the 2019 general
elections.
Saraki, according to a statement
by his Chief Press Secretary, Sanni Onogu, in Abuja, gave the pledge when the
Conference of Nigeria Female Parliamentarians paid him a courtesy visit at the
National Assembly.
He lamented that the present
statistics of women in governance in the country was not encouraging and said
that going into the 2019 elections, something must be done to change the tide.
Saraki said: “Anybody in this
country today will agree that from the statistics you have given out here
today, it is clear that definitely, we are not doing enough in the inclusion of
women in politics and governance.
“We must change and turn the tide
in this direction. We cannot continue with this low level of participation.
“What I want to assure you is
that you have my full support and the full support of the National Assembly to
see what we can do to ensure that as we go into 2019, it will be a year that we
will change the level of participation of women in politics in this country.
“The challenge we have is that
such an action is something that must be done collectively. We will champion it
but it is something that requires all of us to work very hard for it to happen.
“I believe that what we will do
is to make it clear that it must happen. It has to happen and it is in the
interest of this country for it to happen.
“We want to reassure those that
have fears about it that there is noting to worry about. It will only strengthen
our democracy and make our country better.
“I am convinced that your visit
is timely that in this 2019, we must make a difference. We must see a real
change in this area,” he stated.
He commended the group for their
advocacy and commitment to ensure that more women are voted into offices and
said it is imperative to support women groups to push for greater political
inclusion.
He said: “Political parties are
now gearing up for election, this is the right time we must begin to demand
from political parties and candidates that they must tell Nigerians what their
policy is on gender affirmation.
“You have the votes, at least you
have 46 – 48 per cent, let your votes do the work and if your votes do the
work, then you will make the work easier for all of us.
“It is time for you to mobilize
and work for it because it is important. A lot of us who have had the
experience have found out, without any bias, that generally female
politicians/parliamentarians are very committed, hardworking and more
importantly very consistent and loyal.
“I think when you build a country
and you build a political space, what is important is consistency and sometimes
loyalty.”
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