Minister of Women Affairs and Social Development, Senator Aisha Jummai Alahasan, has asked the leadership of political parties in Nigeria to adopt a policy of ‘voluntary electoral party gender quota system.’

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Speaking when she led other women leaders in an advocacy visit to the leadership of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Abuja, the minister said the policy will guarantee more participation of the womenfolk in politics and governance.

She described the initiative as a deliberate strategy of earmarking constituencies solely for women candidates during election.

The minister regretted that Nigeria is still trailing other African countries in the area of women participation in politics, saying something must be done to take the country out among backward and poor performing countries in terms of women’s political participation and leadership.

The former senator however pleaded with the party leaders to join hands with the women in preparations for the 2019 general election.

In his reaction, the APC National Chairman, John Oyegun, expressed disappointment over the limited number of women participation in politics, Oyegum assured the visiting minister that his leadership would ensure an improvement and ensure that more women are given opportunities in political leadership.

Meanwhile, Nigeria has the least women in politics with less than 6 percent of women in politics as against countries such as Rwanda and South Africa which have sixty-six and forty percent women participation respectively.

 

Report by Nnabuchi Nnabuchi