Elvis Omoregie, Benin
National Council of Women’s Societies, Nigeria, Edo State chapter, on Tuesday, said they will not participate in the forthcoming 2019 general election until at least the 35 percent of the United Nations charter is adhered to by the federal and state governments.
The state president of the group, Mrs. Omoluru Aigbokhae Eniye said this when she led other women in a protest march through major streets in Benin City.
“We are taking a stand either to boycott the election or to ask the women not to vote because we have the numbers. We have been cheated for a long time and we do not want it to happen again.
“We can call the bluff and ask women not to go and vote and let us see how they will win”, she said.
Aigbokhae, said they can no longer tolerate the role of a second fiddle in the nation’s politics rather they should be given the chance to seek for elective positions and be voted for accordingly.
She also accused the men of making the elective positions their birth rights while the women are only good enough for appointments into political offices so that they could hire and fire them at will.
“We have come to tell the world, that the women of Edo state, have been marginalized. We formed the majority when it comes to voting but when it comes to elective positions, they keep the women aside. They want to give us appointive positions so that they can keep the women aside.
“They want to give us appointive positions so that when we say something that is not too comfortable with government, they fire us.
“For some time now, we have been watching the political scene in Edo State, they have been doing adoption and all the people that they have been adopting are men.
“There is no single woman that has been adopted and we fear that if we allow this one to continue, especially as their primaries are drawing near, women are going to be schemed out.
“We watched President Muhammadu Buhari when he was making his speech in UN Assembly, he drummed support for the inclusion of women in politics in Nigeria but unfortunately, in Nigeria, women are relegated to the back ground and we are saying no”, she said.
Omoluru said to make matter worse, for 12 years, the Edo State House of Assembly, has only had one woman as a member of the house which negate the 35 percent Affirmative Actions.
“I am here to present a position paper to NUJ. It is very simple, 35 percent affirmative action. If at the house assembly here, we have 24 members by 35 percent, we ought to have eight women but we are not asking for eight.
We are asking that we should be represented across the state.
“From the north, south and central, we are asking for just two so that when decisions that concern the women and children are taken, women will be there to partake.
“You can imagine for 12 years in Edo State, only one woman has been in the house assembly and when they want to take critical decisions, what has she to say? At times, she is even schemed out as they take the decision because they are in the majority, it becomes binding on everybody”, she said.