By Ezeocha Nzeh
Ahead of the 2023 presidential election, a coalition of women groups have called on President Muhammadu Buhari and the All Progressives Congress (APC) to adopt Vice President Yemi Osinbajo as the party’s consensus candidate
The coalition maintained that Osinbajo is one of the very few Nigerian political aspirants who will not turn electoral victory into an opportunity for wealth accumulation, adding that he is the only candidate that retain the presidency for the ruling party I 2023
Assuring that Nigerian women will give him resolute backing for the 2023 presidential elections, members of the National Coalition of Women for Osinbajo strongly appealed to President Muhammadu Buhari, members of the Federal Executive Council (FEC), state governors, party leaders at federal, state, local government levels and all genuine progressives among delegates to APC presidential convention to ensure the actualization of an Osinbajo presidency in 2023.
Addressing reporters during a press conference at the offices of The Progressive Project (TPP) in Abuja on Wednesday, members of the coalition made a six-point declaration that includes a call for President Buhari and the entire members of the Federal Executive Council to consider adopting Osinbajo as APC’s consensus presidential candidate.
Leader of the coalition, Hajia Rabi Dauda, who is also the leader of pro-Osinbajo Progressive Women’s Group, stressed that the 2023 general election will be a decisive turning point for APC and the entire nation, asserting that all attention be focussed on their six-point demand as follows:
“We strongly affirm Nigerian women’s utmost confidence in the candidature of Professor Yemi Osinbajo as a people-focused leader with the right intellectual capacity and innate leadership qualities to move Nigeria forward, with an emphatic attention to women progress and development.
“We demand the emergence of truly people-focused leadership at APC’s forthcoming convention and presidential primaries, either through consensus or voting processes as we look forward to the unfettered emergence of Vice President Yemi Osinbajo as APC presidential flag bearer in 2023 elections.
The coalition further urged the APC Caretaker and Convention Committee to strictly ensure that delegates to its national convention are not hijacked by those who have participated in looting state or federal resources in the past.
“Our great party, APC must seriously consider women’s collective calls for greater involvement of women and youth in key positions within the party as well as local, state and federal administrations to be constituted by APC in 2023
“While we commend the very gallant efforts of the Nigerian military and various security and law enforcement agencies involved in tackling the menace if insecurity across the nation, we also appeal for increased pace towards ending insurgency, banditry, kidnapping and other crimes as women and children tend to be the worst affected victims of criminality and other anti-social acts.”
The women’s coalition argued thatvarious parameters of assessing genuine leadership puts Vice President Yemi Osinbajo ahead of other presidential aspirants.
“The 2023 general election will be a very decisive juncture in the history of Nigeria and our great party, APC has an epoch-making responsibility to move the nation forward by deepening democracy, considering affirmative action for 35 percent representation for women and accelerating general development.
“Without any iota of doubt, we believe that the emergence of Prof Yemi Osinbajo as the 2023 presidential flag-bearer of the APC will give Nigeria the opportunity to realize these lofty collective progressive aspirations.
“It is important that, Nigerians make a clear decision by choosing a leader known to be ready to work for the development of the future and the betterment of the country rather than joining those politicians who have tendencies to exploit public office as an opportunity to fill their pockets.
“Nigerian women believe in the candidature of Prof Yemi Osinbajo, a man whose credibility, objectivity and intellectual capacity has been proven over time.
“Seriously, there is need for effective steps to be taken to ensure that those who engaged in plundering state and federal coffers in the past are not allowed back into governance roles where trust and integrity really matters,” Hajia Rabi Dauda stated.
