Nigeria

As the 2019 general elections draw near, those who want to wrest power from the governor of Jigawa State, Muhammadu Badaru Abubakar, are busy strategising. To this end, their posters have virtually taken over major towns of the state.

For the meantime, however, most aspirants are from the Social Democratic Party (SDP) and the All Progressives Congress (APC).

Women politicians in Kogi State have revealed what they have been going through in the hands of men in the state.

The women alleged that they were being denied the opportunity to contest elective positions, and accused male politicians of “constantly seeking to dominate the political space”.

President Muhammadu Buhari has called on political parties to ensure conducive atmosphere for women aspirants in the forthcoming 2019 General Elections.

Buhari said this on Thursday while addressing Nigerian women at the Women Political Aspirants Advocacy Summit in Abuja.

He called for an enabling environment for free and fair playing grounds where women can contest elective positions and participate in political process.

The wife of the President, Mrs Aisha Buhari, on Tuesday urged more women to show interest and participate in partisan politics.

She made the call while addressing newsmen ahead of the summit on female political aspirants scheduled for Thursday in Abuja.

Daring to join the male-dominated world of Nigerian politics was a tough decision for Ladi Mamman Watila, particularly in the conservative north-eastern state of Borno. But in 2003, Watila ran for a seat in the House of Representatives (the lower house of the National Assembly of Nigeria) on behalf of the All Nigeria People’s Party. Most of her opponents were men who felt she was better suited to the kitchen than the rough and tumble of national politics.

Scores of female contestants under the aegis of Women Aspirants Summit in Abuja mobilised for effective participation in politics as the 2019 general elections draw nearer.

It was also canvassed that women should support themselves beyond their different political parties, adding that until they are properly represented in politics, modern democratic governance would remain a mirage in the country.

Former President Olusegun Obasanjo said Nigerian Women are more reliable in politics than their men counterparts, saying it is high time political leaders got them involved in the country’s politics. Obasanjo said this while speaking at the Women’s Power Lunch 2018 organised by Murtala Muhammed Foundation in Lagos, noting that his experience in governance between 1999 and 2007 had clearly shown this postulation. His assertion was immediately corroborated by the former president of the Republic of Mauritius, Prof.