APC Paying Lip Service to Affirmative Action, Says Group

Chuks Okocha in Abuja

A civil rights advocacy group, Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria (HURIWA),yesterday, said the leadership of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and the President-elect, Bola Tinubu, who promised women inclusion during their campaigns only paid lip service to affirmative action as well as gender and equal opportunity in Nigeria immediately after the election.

The group, however, endorsed Princess Onuoha, a member representing Onuimo/Isiala Mbano/Okigwe Federal Constituency from Imo State, for the post of the Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives.

HURIWA, in a statement read at an elaborate media conference  in Abuja by its National Coordinator, Comrade Emmanuel Onwubiko, said since the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) zoned the Deputy Speakership position to the South-East zone, it was only sensible and acceptable for the party with majority of members in the National Assembly to select a woman for the role.

The group said already, the 10th Senate and 10th House of Representatives, which will resume by June are male-dominated, with about 20 women in both legislative chambers, adding that Nigerians were astonished that the APC National Working Committee zoned the leadership of the 10th National Assembly.

“The party organ zoned the Senate President to the South-South, Senator Godswill Akpabio (Akwa Ibom); Deputy Senate President to the North-West, Senator Barau Jubrin (Kano).Others are the Speaker of the House of Representatives (North-West) – Abass Tajudeen (Kaduna), Deputy Speaker South East – Ben Kalu (Abia).

“For starters, the President-elect, Bola Tinubu is from the South West while the Vice-President-Elect, Kashim Shettima is from the North-East. These six persons are all male while women represented a paltry 3.5% of National Assembly members-elect for both Senate and House of Representatives while men have 96.5%.

“It is on record that Onuoha, who won her reelection on the platform of the APC, has offered herself to serve the Nigerian people and offered herself to provide robust and dynamic leadership. Her people voted her despite the Labour Party landslide victory in the state because they didn’t want to take a chance by voting another candidate and because she brought participatory governance to her people; politics of inclusivity.

“It is just insensitive for the APC not to include a single woman among the top six political positions in the country despite the party’s spineless promises about affirmative action. APC should ensure 35% affirmative action for the leadership of the National Assembly and reserve the office of the Deputy Speaker for a very competent lawmaker in the person of Hon Onuoha.”