The 37 State Women Leaders of the All Progressives Congress and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) forum have expressed their disappointment in President Bola Tinubu for abandoning them, despite their efforts to secure his victory in the 2023 polls.
During a visit to the APC party secretariat in Abuja on Tuesday, the aggrieved leaders voiced their dissatisfaction with their exclusion from the benefits of party politics.
Patricia Yakubu, the President of the forum, highlighted their dismay at not receiving any appointments or post-election rewards from the presidency, despite their contributions.
Yakubu emphasized that after the 2023 general election, they were only given a bag of rice and a paper wrapper each, which they found to be unacceptable.
However, despite their frustrations, Yakubu commended the National Working Committee led by Abdullahi Ganduje and expressed their confidence in his leadership.
The forum appealed to the president and the party leadership to acknowledge their sacrifices and include them in federal appointments, as they believe they deserve to be part of the decision-making process.
Furthermore, the women leaders accused the Ministry of Women Affairs and Social Development, headed by Dr Uju Kennedy-Ohanenye, of distributing N50,000 in cash palliatives without extending the same support to any of their members.
She said:
“We, the forum of 36 States women Leaders and the FCT have come to pay you a solidarity visit and unanimously say, we believe in you as the National Chairman of our great party. We unequivocally pass a vote of confidence on you and reiterate the fact that the 36 States women Leaders are solidly behind you and the National Working Committee of our great party.
“But the state women leaders will want to advocate that we should be carried along in all the affairs about women in the states. We are closer to the party women at the grassroots, the largest voting bloc in the secular world. Our demography should not be neglected. Since after the elections, Your Excellency may note that only one bag of rice and one paper wrapper was given to the state women leaders from the national secretariat of the party.
“Nothing was given to us during Easter, the Ramadan fasting period, and Salah festivities. Even the palliatives distributed were not given to the women leaders for onward distribution to the grassroots, We party women waited and waited and waited to no avail very sad. Your Excellency respectfully, we wish to notify you that the Women Leaders sacrificed so much towards the victory of our great party during the 2023 elections.
“Our women went through a lot at the last election. We took a great risk sleeping on the grass in open spaces at the Women Development Center in Abuja and almost every state during the electioneering period to ensure victory. The house of one of us was demolished on election day by the opposition party in her state to distract her from canvassing votes for the party.
“The son of a member was kidnapped a day before the presidential election. Another woman was detained at the police station for three days from the election day. One of us was involved in a ghastly motor accident during the campaign in her community and she is still in and out of the hospital. Your Excellency, the women have not been compensated for all their pains and sacrifices, we are feeling neglected.
“We will also want to respectfully draw the attention of His Excellency, our Father, the advocate of women’s empowerment to the fact that most of the Federal Government programmes that have to do with women sound like news to us. We want to plead with you to use your good office to discuss with the ministers and heads of agencies to involve our women in their programmes, especially in states where we don’t have APC governors.”
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