Aggrieved women kick against PDP zoning

Posted by admin Party Politics, Peoples' Democratic Party (PDP), Women Politics Sunday, May 15th, 2011

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) zoning arrangement came under fire at the weekend as some gender-sensitive women within the party vowed to resist any arrangement that would exclude women from occupying any of the five topmost political positions in the country.

Rising from a meeting in Abuja, the women said they were taking their case to the First Lady, Mrs. Patience Jonathan, who had, during the electioneering campaign, identified with the efforts to reserve 35 per cent of all political positions for women. Spokesperson for the group, Hajia Zainab Yaro-Musa, told newsmen that her group would hold the ruling party, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), to its own conscience and constitution as it affected the aspiration of women within the party.

She regretted that rather than the plight of women improving after the recent general elections, it had further worsened as the female representation in the National and state Assembles had decreased while the First Lady’s effort to produce a female governor also failed.

Although the group said it had no particular office in mind, it insisted that any top office still open for grabs should be given to women, citing example with the leadership of the National Assembly, the Senate president, deputy Senate president and speaker of the House of Representatives where it said though there were qualified and competent women, the men were carrying on as if no sex other existed.

For instance, they said, if the PDP could zone the speakership of the House of Representatives to the South-west where it has only five legislators because of religion, there was no reason it should not make some adjustments to accommodate the women.
Hajia Musa said her group was making consultations with their women legislators and after seeing the First Lady, they intended to make open their ambition for certain positions in the legislative and executive arms of government.

“It is extremely unfair for men to carry on sharing offices the way they are going without accommodating the opposite gender. It does not tell well of our civilisation and it cannot help the growth of democracy.” According to her, more women had come out to vote, during the elections, adding that while very old women came out with a working sticking to cast their votes, the men were only somewhere planning how to win at all costs.” She added that they were very optimistic that one key principal office in the National Assembly must eventually come to women at least to justify the first lady’s effort.

-Sunwp_posts