An advocacy group, Coalition of More Women in Governance in Ogun, yesterday staged a protest to the Ogun State House of Assembly and the Governor’s Office, Oke-Mosan, Abeokuta, the statecapital, to demand inclusion of more women in the governor’s list of commissioner-nominees forwarded to the Assembly.
Speaking on behalf of the group, Dr. Abiola Akinyode, said they were disappointed with the number of women who made the commissioner-nominee’s list submitted to the Assembly by Governor Dapo Abiodun.
But the governor, in a swift reaction, assured women in the state that more of them would be appointed into the State Executive Council, as well as agencies and boards.
Akinyode, who spoke earlier at the Assembly’s complex in Abeokuta, said that the group would not accept the list, saying that there should be at least 35 per cent of women on the list.
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She explained that the Assembly had passed a resolution sometime in October calling on the state government to give women 35 per cent in governance.
Responding, the Speaker, Olakunle Oluomo, commended the group for the peaceful protest.
Oluomo, represented by Chairman, House Committee on Transportation, Oludaisi Elemide, noted that the Assembly actually passed a resolution on 35 per cent affirmation for women in governance.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the governor on Thursday forwarded 18 names of commissioner-nominees, which had only two women, to the Assembly for confirmation.
Governor Abiodun, however, assured women of a fair deal in his administration.
He said more of them would be appointed into the state exco, agencies and boards.
He said the list was not exhaustive, adding that new commissioner positions reserved exclusively for women would be unveiled shortly.
The governor in a statement by his Chief Press Secretary (CPS), Kunle Somorin, said that the interests of women were on top of his administration’s agenda.
He added that his promise that women would play a pivotal role in his administration remained irreversible.
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