By Myke Uzendu, Abuja
The women wing of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has tasked the parrey to allocate the Vice Presidential ticket in 2023 to a woman or lose their vote.
Former Senator who represented Adamawa South Senatorial District in the 8th Assembly, Senator Grace Bent vowed to mobilize PDP women whom according to her has 50 percent of voting population to boycott the election unless the party presents a female vice presidential candidate.
Sen. Bent made the position known during the PDP Women’s Consultative Forum sponsored by International Republican Institute (IRI) at the party’s headquarters, Wadata House, Abuja on Monday.
She said that women has all it takes to ensure the implementation of the 35 percent affirmative change in the party which reserves 35 percent of political positions to women.
She said, “We are saying that in 2023, if our political party does not present a female as vice presidential candidate, we are not going to support them. So set the ball rolling, all female stakeholders, females woman leaders, tell the party, give us female vice president otherwise, we will all sit home, we shall not vote”.
She asked women not to settle for any position in the guise of fulfilling the 35 percent position.
“So you have the knife in your hands by the power that the constitution has conferred on you, you must confront your governors on why you a not having six women. Don’t just allow the women to take ex-officio, who says you shouldn’t have an organising Secretary, a local government chairman, a party chairman at the local government and at the state. But invariably what they will do with the 35% is to give you ex-officio’s who are just bench warmers, so they don’t even invite them to meetings.
“This meeting should help us to galvanise all these weapons that we have and take it up and run with it so that so that in 2023, if PDP harnesses all it’s resources, in fact, Nigerians are waiting for PDP but how PDP uses the women who are 50% of the population in terms of voting is another thing” Bent stated.
Also in her remarks Hon. Mulikat Akande who represented Ogbomoso North, South and Oriire Federal Constituency at the House of Representatives (in 2007 and 2011) tasked PDP women on greater participation in political activities.
“The men always come together to ensure we don’t get it but as women, we should support ourselves. Whether we like it or not. If we put a woman in a position, we can demand accountability from her. We can say we put you there, come and explain to us what you are doing” she said.
The National Woman Leader, Hajiya Maryam Waziri tasked women to be more dedicated in political activities just as she advised against intimidation by men.
Present at the event were representative from IRI, women leaders from the States and female members of the National Assembly elected under PDP.
