Reserve 35% Appointment for Women in Your Cabinets, Group Tells Tinubu, Governors

Wale Igbintade

The Association of Corporate Governance Professionals of Nigeria (ACGPN) has appealed to President Bola Tinubu and State governors to ensure the appointment of at least 35 per cent of women in their cabinets.

The association’s President, Mr. Sam Ohuabunwa, made the appeal at a media briefing in Lagos, to herald its forthcoming maiden Women in Governance (WIG) 2023 Conference.

The forthcoming conference which is slated for July 13, in Lagos, was tagged “Inspiring Visionary Governance: The Role of Women.”

ACGPN is a professional membership organisation committed to enthroning the Principles of Good Governance in all aspects of our national endeavour.

Ohuabunwa said appointment of women into various public offices by the President and the governors would close the gap of gender inequality and to fulfill their campaign promises.

He stated that several women in politics had emerged as candidates of their various political parties but their male counterparts with money bags outweighed them.

“We want to use this forthcoming conference to urge the Federal and state governments to appoint more women ministers, commissioners, heads of agencies with a view to closing the gap.

“Especially as the president and other state governors are preparing to release the names of ministers, heads of agencies and parastatal for political appointments.

“The association is urging them to ensure that at least, 35 percent women representation in public offices is achieved,” he said.

Ohuabunwa said the association realised that the greatest resource to drive corporate and organisational success was the human capital, in which this capital resided in both male and female genders.

He, however, said that for a long time, most nations, including Nigeria had failed to optimise this resource, often preferring to fire only one engine (male) while sub-optimising the second equally powerful engine ( female).

According to him, every pilot knows the danger of flying a twin engine turbo on only one engine.

Ohuabunwa said since Beijing, Nigeria and many other nations had become more deliberate in creating conducive opportunities for the women folk to climb to the top of their careers hitherto ‘reserved’ for only the men folk.

He noted that the association decided to convene the conference as part of the national effort to highlight what the women folk were bringing into governance.

The president said the forthcoming conference was also to x-ray those factors that were delaying or inhibiting their orderly trajectory.

He said highly accomplished women in political governance, public sector governance and corporate governance would present papers and lead discussions, followed by panel sessions.