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From Okwe Obi, Abuja
Some members of the defunct All Progressives Congress (APC) Women Campaign Council are angry with President Bola Tinubu over what they termed uneven appointments of women into Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDs).
They accused President Tinubu of sidelining women who laboured day and night during the electioneering campaign in 2022 and 2023, in his recent appointments of heads of the MDAs.
Spokesperson of the group, Elizabeth Ofuani Otunbalogun, at a press briefing yesterday in Abuja, contended that the president has abandoned the plight of women and gender inclusivity since coming on board.
Otunbalogun claimed that the President’s actions contradicted his promise to increase women’s participation in governance to at least 35 percent, as outlined in the National Gender Policy of 2006.
Also, she criticised the President for not fulfilling his campaign pledge to supporters to deliver results from their polling units in exchange for appointments.
According to her, the women’s wing, which was instrumental in mobilising voters, had been ‘used and dumped.”
“The President has made several appointments since assuming office, but women have been grossly under-represented.
“Our research shows that in 2023, only 12 percent of the appointments made by the President were women. In 2024, the figure remains dismal, with just 12 out of 99 appointments being women.”
She told the President to look into the defunct APC Women Campaign Council and pick women to fill the 18 percent deficit in the appointments made so far.
“This is crucial for correcting the anomaly and ensuring women’s participation in governance.”
Another member of the group, Adesotu Vera, said: “We are pleading with the President to consider our plight. Thirty five percent affirmative action should be implemented.
“We are not looking at any position in particular. Mr President knows the best qualifications for women. A lot of women worked for the party over the years during the tenure of former President Muhammadu Buhari.
“Those women should be located, found and they should be brought on board. They are educated. They have all it takes. We want to be board members too. He should fix women into positions of authority for them to empower themselves.”
