Members of the now-defunct All Progressives Congress (APC) Women Campaign Council want President Bola Tinubu to appoint some of them into positions of authority to ensure inclusivity in his government.
Elizabeth Otunbalogun, spokesperson of the group, told newsmen in Abuja that their being given appointment was necessary as a matter of fairness and also to foster trust in the people.
‘The 2023 elections may have come and gone and we in the APC are beneficiaries as a party, but as women of the defunct Campaign Council, we are not beneficiaries.
‘We are very sad with the shift in appointments by President Tinubu which has ignored us.
‘We demand that the President look into the defunct APC Campaign Council and pick women to fill the 18 per cent deficit in the appointments made so far.
‘This will ensure a correction of the anomaly in future appointments for women participation in governance in Nigeria,’ she said.
Otunbalogun further said the defunct APC Women Campaign Council had pivotal persons that worke
d for the emergence of the President in 2023.
She said the women made themselves available through various groups and associations to galvanise support for the actualisation of the aspirations of President Tinubu and Vice-President Kashim Shettima.
The group spokesperson also wondered why their members were not appointed, in spite of their efforts to ensure victory for the APC.
‘We went all out for the party and the presidential and vice-presidential candidates.
‘What is our sin? What did we do wrong to warrant this level of ignominy?
‘We are asking these questions because our research team has made scary findings on the level of abandonment suffered by members of the defunct Campaign Council,’ she said.
Otunbalogun noted that President Tinubu had raised the hopes of women on May 29 in 2023.
‘This was when he promised to increase our participation in governance to at least 35 per cent of all governmental positions.
‘That promise as we expected was in line with the National Gender Policy (NGP) of 2006.
‘This statement peaked the various assurances which the President and his wife, Sen. Oluremi Tinubu, gave to the group before the elections.
‘So, for him to commit to it in his inaugural speech was indeed pleasing to us as Nigerian women who worked for the party,’ she said.
Otunbalogun pointed out that the appointment so far made by the President appeared not to represent this goal.
She said the cumulative appointments by the President since May 2023 stood at 12 per cent.
This, Otunbalogun said, does not reflect 50 per cent of the 35 per cent of the NGP of 2006 on inclusion.
‘It fell flat of the expectations from us all.’
She then appealed to the President to reconsider his appointments to ensure that members of the defunct APC Women Campaign Council were adequately rewarded for their efforts.
Source: News Agency of Nigeria