Source: Leadership
The Women in Politics Forum [WIPF] a network of women groups yesterday demanded for a 50 per cent equity in the distribution of appointments in the incoming government of President Elect, Gen Muhammadu Buhari.
The women who held a media briefing yesterday, specifically requested for key positions from the incoming government including the office of the Chief of Staff to the President, the National Security Adviser, Secretary to the Federal Government, the Ministry of Justice among others be reserved for women.
The forum which called on the president elect to remember his promises to women during one of his town hall meetings with women frowned at the non-inclusion of women in the All Progressives Congress {APC] led transition committee put in place to effect the swearing in ceremony come 29th of May.
President of Women in Politics Forum [WIPF], Barrister Ebere Ifendu in her speech said that the request became necessary to bring to the attention of the in-coming APC administration the obligation of the country to the Nigerian Women as far as International Conventions and Treaties were concerned.
”On March 19, 2015, the President-Elect in a keynote address at a town hall meeting with professional women in Lagos stated, ”An APC government under my leadership is therefore committed to the following, ensuring that gender is mainstreamed throughout all the government’s commitments in key areas such as the Economy, Education, Health, Security, good governance, power, agriculture and other areas of national development as well as the implementation of the 2005 National Gender Policy, which serves as a road map for the promotion of women’s empowerment and gender equality in Nigeria, so far, there has been no political will to implement this very critical framework”.
Ifendu said that WIPF is an organization of women in politics who are members of parliament and women executive office holders of political parties, women in the civil society who are interested in politics and other female organisations who engage and develop strategies to achieve the mission of the Forum.
While congratulating the President-Elect and the APC for the successes recorded in the last elections, Barrister Ifendu also called on the in-coming administration to ensure that gender parity is observed in the implementation of the Federal Character laws of the land stressing that appointments of women in key positions should go beyond party affiliation and target women with proven competence to their various fields of endeavour as well as make concerted efforts to improve the number of women in the executive and public service to make up for the low ranking of the Nigeria’s legislature in terms of women representation.
It would be recalled that the out-going administration of President Goodluck Jonathan, gave 35 per cent appointive positions to women, a feat, several women groups appreciated but said it could be improved upon.