By Diana Omueza
Mrs Abiodun Essiet, a Chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC) has urged the National Assembly to pass bills that would boost women participation in politics to ensure inclusiveness.
Essiet said this when she spoke with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja on Tuesday.
She also called for strengthening of internal party democracy and for the electorate to hold political parties accountable on their promises.
Essiet, who was a Vice Chairmanship aspirant for the Abuja Municipal Area Council (AMAC) at the Feb. 12, FCT Area Councils Poll, under the platform of APC, said that she missed out in the election after a court ruling.
“I was going to come in as a female vice chairman which was an opportunity to boost female representation in the FCT, but with the court judgement, my hopes were shattered.
“Prior to the FCT election, as a party, the APC held its party primary election and we clearly won the election.
“The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) attended and observed the primary election and they knew and saw how I won with my team.
“We had internal party issues and we went to court and the appeal court judgment was in our favour because we clearly won the primaries and we were ready to run with our mandates,” she said.
Essiet added:“Sadly, when we got to the supreme court, the judgment was different and the impact of the judgment reflected so badly on our party’s performance at the poll.
“Because on that Saturday at the poll, there was voter apathy, people were not happy to come out to vote, because the people they wanted to vote for were not on the ballot.
“And it resulted in APC losing the AMAC seat which ruined my aspiration to become vice chairman and also to represent women,” she said.
She said that the FCT has 62 wards and 62 counsellors, with six Chairmen and six vice chairmen, but that sadly all were men.
“What this means is that with the absence of a female representative in the FCT which is the seat of power, anything that concerns women will be decided by men, which ought not to be so.
“We have 62 counsellors from the two major parties that normally wins elections in the FCT, and the two parties did not field female candidates except in my case.
“This means that,we will not have any female representation in the whole FCT for the next three years in the six FCT Area Councils.
“This is sad, but we would not remain disappointed for too long, we would device means and strategies to lobby, and advocate for more space for women,” she said.
Essiet added:“We know that power is not given, but it is taken by force, so we would join force across party lines to ensure that women are well represented in the incoming administration across the FCT.”(NAN)
