The Edo State First Lady, Mrs. Betsy Obaseki; wife of State Deputy Governor, Mrs. Maryann Shaibu, and a former Minister of Women Affairs and Social Development, Josephine Anenih, on Wednesday, led women from the 18 local government areas of the State to the Secretariat of the Edo State Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to advocate for more roles for women in politics and governance in the State, ahead of the Local Government elections in the State.
The First Lady while addressing the Edo PDP chairman, Anthony Aziegbemi, and other leaders of the party, at the Secretariat in Benin City, said more women should be given the opportunity to contribute their quota to the growth and development of the society.
Commending Edo women for their roles in the re-election of Governor Godwin Obaseki in the 2020 governorship election and the 2023 Edo House Assembly elections, the First Lady charged the party to reward the efforts of the women with more opportunities for elective and appointive positions.
She said, “We are here today to advocate and push for more women to benefit from political and elective positions in this government. When we had the governorship election in 2020, the leadership of the party acknowledged the role women played to ensure the Governor won his second term but the women were not compensated.
“We thank the Governor, his government and the party for the favourable and progressive policy under the leadership of Governor Obaseki and for making the nomination form free for women. This is the right step in the right direction.
“We thank you, your Excellency, for creating the platform for women to contest for chairmanship positions in the last local government primary elections. We appeal to the leadership of the party; we want more chairmanship, vice-chairmanship, councillorship, supervisory councillorship and other positions for women.”
The First Lady added, “We have two women in the Edo House of Assembly and two women to contest the chairmanship position come September 2nd, 2023. We want more of them in governance because good governance without women will not work as their contributions must not be taken for granted.
“We have valuable, intelligent, capable, and qualified women who can contribute well to the development of Edo State. When women are in power, you are sure of progress.”
In his response, Aziegbemi thanked the women for their support for the state government and party, reassuring, “Your issue has been on the front burner. That was why the nomination forms were given to women for free to motivate and encourage more women into politics.
“We expect more women to be in the chairmanship, vice-chairmanship, and councillorship levels. We have two women in the chairmanship position in the coming local government election. We have about 30 women candidates in the councillorship election. For the vice-chairmanship, the governor has directed that at least the women have at least 50 percent.”
He added, “This government has been women-friendly and we will do more as we acknowledge the fact that without you, we would not have won our elections and we will do more for the women. What we didn’t do at the chairmanship level, we can compensate at the vice-chairmanship level.”
