Re: 2023: Women’s Groups To Present Joint Presidential Candidate

– 2023 ELECTION: ADESANYA-DAVIES ASKS FOR FULL AND UNALLOYED SUPPORT BY ALL NIGERIAN WOMEN

Ahead of 2023 presidential election, the Presidential candidate of Mass Action Joint Alliance MAJA, one of the Parties in Coalition of United Political Parties (CUPP), Prof. Funmilayo Adesanya-Davies, a formidable personality and candidate in 2019 presidential election and a current PDP Presidential aspirant for 2023 election has appreciated leaders of various women’s organizations, under the aegis of “Federation of Muslim Women Association of Nigeria, FOMWAN, who have vowed to present a credible female presidential candidate capable of winning 2023 presidential election in a report by Jubril Bada last year, on 19th May, 2021. Prof. Adesanya-Davies says, “Kudos and more grease to their elbow !!!”

“The group expressed their strong belief that there will be positive change in the predicaments facing the country if a woman is elected as president. “In an interview with The Hope, the Almeera of Federation of Muslim Women Association of Nigeria, FOMWAN, Ondo State chapter, Alhaja Aminat Akinpelumi said steps were being taken in enlightening women folk to support a woman presidential candidate. She explained that the sensitization was to change women perception of politics as a dirty game.

“To this end, she disclosed that seven – man committee has been set up saddled with the responsibility to search for a credible woman presidential candidate to slog it out with male counterpart in the polls. According to her, the committees at the state and the national levels are working assiduously to achieve the tasks before them and give back to the association, the feedback when the time comes. The committees, she maintained were given target on the choice of the association for a credible candidate with manifesto that will engender effective changes to the plight of Nigerians

Assuring the readiness of women to vote for woman candidate, the group affirmed that woman candidate was preferred to male candidate for the development of the country. “We respect our husbands but when it comes to the display of our God’s gift, we must decide positively on our own,” she said.

Also, the State Chairman, Inter-Africa Committee, IAC, Mrs. Margaret Adebayo, posited that women in the coming general elections would stand their position in encouraging womenfolk to participate actively in politics. Adebayo said sensitization is ongoing on the need for women to register and collect their voters cards. She said under representation of women in politics, despite they accounted for 40million out of 84million registered voters nationwide in the previous national elections was a wake up call to ensure women participate in politics.

According to her, “despite Sarah Jubril contested for presidential election in the past and it was effort in futility, women will continue to show their strengths to vie for political posts. “We will not be debarred by what happened in the previous elections and we must be there”. While citing the Director-General of the World Trade Organization, WTO, and former Minister of Finance in the country, Dr. Nngosi Okonjo-lweala as woman of honour who has made the country proud internationally, Adebayo assured that if woman elected as president will make better changes in Nigeria.

In a similar development, “A former senator, Florence Ita-Giwa has asked Nigerian women to insist on female running mates for male presidential and other candidates. This was made known on Wednesday by Ita-Giwa during a panel discussion at the national progressive women’s conference in Abuja.

The former senator called on women to build structures and mobilise resources to back female candidates. She suggested that women should decide not to vote for any political party that does not field a female politician as running mate in the 2023 presidential election.

“How do we build the next generation of women? We cannot bring in the next female generation of politicians if we do not allow some empowerment for them,” she said. “You have to prepare yourself, you have to put together your structure, election materials, you have to travel around, there is no joke about it. You need money for you to run around, for you to be elected.

“I have heard here that we should ask them to allow women to be deputy governors. Why should we stop at that.. in this country today and with the calibre of women in this hall even coming from the next generation, intellectuals, and established women?

“I think it’s about time that the women should seriously say that any presidential candidate that is coming out of this country, the women will not vote for him if he does not take a woman as his vice-president. That should be our proposal so that the next generation will be given opportunities. It is about time that we have a female vice-president of this country.” Thus, it’s time to reject Presidential Candidates and other Candidates without Female Running Mates !!!

Again, Presidential candidate of Mass Action Joint Alliance (MAJA) in the 2019 election, Prof. Funmilayo Adesanya-Davies (PMA) has declared her interest to contest during the 2023 general election for the President of Nigeria on the platform of the PDP, urging all women to participate actively and give her their full support.

Adesanya-Davies said, “I will contest! I have a dream, that one day, a woman will emerge as the President of Nigeria, and the dream is now!!! We, women need to try our best in 2023 at all levels. From now onwards, every woman should endeavour to speak to at least fifty women to vote for a ‘woman President,’ in Nigeria. Tell five women daily from now till 2023 elections. Remember, Martin Luther King Jr. said, ‘Your happiness starts from you and not from someone else.’ So should all the Nigerian youth and all the ‘he for she’ and all the men campaign and vote for the first female president in Nigeria in 2023. This could and would be the only functional approach.

As such, towards 2023 elections, we need all hands to be on deck to mobilise all women in the country from the state level to the grassroots, educated, illiterate, northerners and southerners, Christians and Muslims to vote for ‘a women president,’ and also vote for women at all levels. Though the educated women who realise this are fewer they should drive their non-educated women in the larger community in the grassroots to achieve this goal and vision.