Okewale Sonaiya urges state governors to nominate women for ministerial appointments.

Responsibility for ministerial appointments lies not only with President-elect H.E Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu but also with the governors of respective All Progressives Congress (APC) states, who are putting forward names for nomination. I appeal to all APC state governors to nominate at least one woman among the three names they send to the incoming administration for ministerial appointments. One female nomination per three nominees by governors, APC chairmen and leadership in non-APC states would translate to approximately 35% in accordance with the affirmative action and bridge the vacuum created in 2023 elective positions.

Competent and capable women politicians and female technocrats hail from all Nigerian states and every man and woman should play a part in rebuilding the socio-economic fabric of our beloved country. While our men are great nation builders, they require the support and input of women. Only when men and women lead together can Nigeria progress.

Nigerian women’s groups are maintaining a strong alliance in advocating for an increase in female representation in governance at all levels. Women Advocates Research and Documentation Center is coordinating women representatives of each state to present the Nigerian Women Charter of Demand to the government of each state. Additionally, League of Women Voters of Nigeria, 100 Women Lobby Groups and Women in Politics Forum members in each of the 36 states will visit governors to lobby for state nomination of women for ministerial and commissioner appointments. Nigerian Women Trust Fund is holding a strategic briefing with 9th Assembly female legislators on the 35% affirmative action judgment to demand more appointments of women with the incoming administration.

Despite increased lobbying and advocacy for gender balance and female inclusion in politics in the last three years, the just-concluded 2023 elections saw the lowest and most demoralising percentage of elected women senators and House of Representatives, with only three and fourteen, respectively. The 9th National Assembly rejected the passage of the five gender bills, failing Nigerian women. Nigerian women are hopeful that the 10th National Assembly will pass the bills for Nigeria’s development.

Political parties must revisit their manifestos and match their words with actions in terms of female recognition within the party, as marginalization against women in elective positions arises internally.

I hope that our amiable governors will raise the stakes of our polity for the sake of the great Republic of Nigeria and that the incoming administration will both uphold the demands of women as promised and write its name in the books of Nigerian history in good standing.

Toun Okewale Sonaiya is the Chief Executive Officer of Women Radio 91.7