Civil Society Organisations, under the aegis of Womanifesto, have said only candidates with plans for women will be supported in 2023 elections.
The coalition, which spoke yesterday at National Women’s Dialogue, with the theme: “Electoral Integrity and Accountability: Towards Corruption – Free Elections”, said it would meet the presidential candidates tomorrow.
The conference is funded by MacArthur Foundation and Women’s Rights Advancement & Protection Alternative (WRAPA) Nigeria in partnership with Affirmative Action Initiative for Women formerly National Coalition on Affirmative Action (NCAA) and Gender Technical Unit (GTU).
Executive Director of International Society for Media in Public Health, Mrs. Moji Makanjuola, noted that women were not economically empowered, like men, to compete with them.
Makanjuola lamented that despite attempts by past administrations to reach affirmative actions for women, women inclusion dropped from 35 per cent to less than 10 per cent.
“If we have lost out on elective positions, we can still demand appointed positions and we need to start speaking to them until we get it right. You cannot leave almost 50 per cent of the population behind…”
Co-Convener, Dr. Abiola Akiyode-Afolabi, said above all women seek declaration of emergency on violence against women and girls.
She said it was time the political class stopped treating women as second class, adding “our identity and dignity as women matter.”
Afolabi said: “We are asking that goverment ends violence against women, we had noticed that about 31 of the 36 states have been passed the Violence Against persons (Prohibition) VAPP law, which was one of the things we put as a demand”.
Senate Committee Chairman on Women Affairs, Betty Apiafi, said insecurity and the economy were big challenges to contend with.
“We’re aware of the state of the economy. .. when the economy is the way it is, it becomes difficult for you to run an election without spending a lot…
“Also, there’s insecurity. The more you have insecurity, the more difficult it is for a woman to win election because some (unscrupulous politicians) will take advantage of the situation”, Apiafi said.