Cheated Again?

Women, angry over their poor showing in party primaries nationwide, blame men for their misfortune

By Favour Okereke

Many women are not happy with the development. Out of the 30 political parties in Nigeria , only one selected a woman as its presidential flag bearer for the presidential election in April. Only one woman also emerged as vice-presidential, VP, candidate of a party. Also, only four women emerged as flag bearers of their parties for the governorship race. A cross-section of women interviewed by Newswatch say the development amounts to political marginalisation and a big set-back for women.

On the list of the lucky women is Sarah Jubril, who is flying the presidential flag of Progressive Action Congress, PAC, in the election. For the VP position, only Mairo Habib of the Justice Party, JP, emerged. And the governorship race, Kofoworola Akerele- Bucknor of Lagos State , United Nigeria Peoples’ Party, UNPP; Maria Ikpe of Akwa Ibom State , and Laraba Emmanuel of Kogi State , both of Alliance for Democracy, are gubernatorial candidates. So far, only Modupe Sasore for Lagos West, was able to pick the Peoples’ Democratic Party, PDP, ticket to contest for Senate. No other woman did in any other party. For the post of deputy governor in Osun State , Olusola Obada was appointed under the platform of PDP, while Teju Abiola was appointed in National Conscience Party, NCP.

The poor performance of women in politics is surprising, considering the recommendation of the United Nations that 30 percent of political positions should be reserved for women, as part of the affirmative order principle. Notwithstanding the principle, Newswatch investigations showed that men have continued to dominate Nigerian politics since party politics began in the country. Between 1955 and 1959 for instance, only 21 women were elected into local councils. In the Second Republic , Franca Afegbua was the only female senator in 1983 while three and five women were elected into the House of Representatives and state assemblies respectively. Out of the 1,297 local council seats nationwide in 1992, women won only 206. Akerele-Bucknor from Lagos State was the lone female voice in the 91–member Senate then, while 13 other women were elected into the 583-member House of Representatives.

Under the present political dispensation, there are only three women out of 109 senators in the upper house and five women in the 306-member of House of Representatives. Also, only five women were elected local council chairmen out of the 774 local governments in the country.

The emerging trend has led to fears among some women leaders that the situation may be worse in 2003. Priscilla Kuye, former president of the Nigerian Bar Association and a woman activist, regretted that “the gains which the womenfolk had recorded in the 1999 polls are gradually evaporating.”

Women rights activists, politicians and non-governmental organisations, NGOs, have continued to condemn the poor performances saying that women were schemed out. Jadesola Akande, former vice-chancellor of Lagos State University , said that, “it is unfair that women are being shoved aside indiscriminately in the count down to 2003 polls.”

Women Rights Advancement and Protection Alternative, WRAPA, an NGO, has also accused PDP of discriminating against women aspirants, saying that the party embarked on “tactical elimination of female aspirants.” Sadatu Mahdi, general secretary, lamented that, “the efforts of female aspirants to reach out, gain acceptance as credible candidates and canvass for votes have in most cases come to nothing. The unfolding events negate both the assurances and principles of democracy since most women are losing out in the primaries not because they were not qualified to serve but because they are women.”

Many of the women aspirants who lost out to their men opponents in the just-concluded party primaries are alleging that they were manipulated out in favour of male aspirants. For instance, at a press conference after the primaries, Betty Nnadi, PDP woman gubernatorial aspirant in Imo State , said her failure to secure the party ticket was as a result of insincere political negotiations for consensus candidates in favour of the incumbent. She accused the state PDP of conniving with the state government to scheme her out of the race. “It was clear that the primaries were not going to be free and fair since there was no level-playing ground. The guidelines were tailored to favour the incumbent. “The list of the delegates was not made known to other aspirants even at the time of voting. I wasn’t even allowed to vote, same as other aspirants, except the incumbent,” she said. Nnadi further alleged that ballot papers were given in advance and the PDP state chairman made sure that delegates voted for the incumbent before dropping the ballot papers into the box. Civil servants who were chairmen and members of the transition committees of local councils were allowed to vote as delegates.

In Delta State , a massive protest was staged by the supporters of Stella Omu, former Senate deputy whip who represents Delta South in the Senate, after results of the primaries for her constituency did not favour her. Omu was alleged to have been schemed out in order to pave way for James Manager, immediate past commissioner for works in the state. She also alleged that primaries did not hold in all the senatorial districts, especially the Ijaw areas where she comes from. Also, Esther Uduehi, PDP senatorial aspirant for Delta North, who lost to Patrick Osakwe, criticised the exercise, saying the primaries were held at several centres in the district earlier than scheduled, to rig her out.

In Lagos State , Nike Shobanjo, PDP senatorial aspirant in Lagos East, who lost to Adeseye Ogunlewe, criticised the state party leadership for scheming her out of the primaries to pave way for Ogunlewe’s victory. She said her name was not forwarded to the returning officers, decrying that there was “no free and fair, transparent voting” in the five local government areas of the district during the party primaries. She alleged that her supporters were intimidated and restricted from voting in the zone, which was made up of Somolu, Ibeju-Lekki, Epe, Ikorodu and Kosofe. Shobanjo has petitioned Audu Ogbeh and Murtala Ashorobi, PDP national chairman and state chairman, respectively against the primaries, saying she was deliberately kept in the dark, uninformed of vital events and actions concerning her candidature.

Not all women support the political victimisation theory. Onikepo Oshodi, PDP woman leader in Lagos State , for instance, faulted Shobanjo’s claims, saying the party did not scheme any female candidate out of the primaries. She told Newswatch that the party had a level- playing ground for all the participants. Also, out of 19 women aspirants who vied for the Senate, House of Representatives and House of Assembly tickets under the platform of PDP in Lagos State , 13 won. Audu Ogbeh, PDP national chairman, said that about 25 women won the party nomination for National Assembly.

Oshodi attributed the failure of some women to clinch their party tickets to ignorance on the part of the women of the fundamental intrigues of politics. “I don’t abide by that belief that women were schemed out in the primaries. Rather we still have a long way to go. It is the inability of some of them to scale through electioneering campaign,” she said.

The woman leader said that winning in elections transcends mere campaigning for votes. “It involves lobbying, financing some projects that would make the party people to know you and believe in you,” she said. According to her, many of the women did not scale through the party primaries because politics was the survival of the fittest.

Hakaire Ajuru, a PDP stalwart who is also Nigeria ’s ambassador to Gabon did not see anything wrong with the development. He told Newswatch that it would be wrong for women to think that they would secure elective positions on a platter of gold. He noted that the quest for elective office was a political contest, which must be keenly fought for.

He dismissed the notion that female politicians who indicated interest in elective positions in the PDP were intimidated and edged out by the men. Ajuru explained that on the contrary, the PDP encouraged women politicians to vie for elective positions by asking them not to pay money for the purchase of forms in the recent primaries. “I would say that the Nigerian women have been struggling to be relevant politically. And PDP as a party took a bold step by encouraging women to vie for elective positions by making the primaries free for them. I think the party should rather be commended for this gesture,” he said.

Ajuru advised women interested in elective positions to work harder because elective positions are open to both the men and women and they cannot expect to secure easy ride to victory. He noted that if female politicians like Sarah Jubril and Kofo Bucknor-Akerele could emerge as presidential and gubernatorial candidates of their respective parties, other women could equally win the race, if they worked harder.

Also, Ogbim Osula, a member of the board of trustees of the Movement for Democracy and Justice, MDJ, blamed women for their poor performance. He said that Nigerian women could not achieve much politically because they continued to indulge in self-pity while waiting to be handed out positions. “The problem with our women is that they want positions to be allotted to them without competition,” Osula stated.

Since the 1990s, women have been campaigning vigorously to reverse the trend. On March 22, 1996 for instance, women leaders and activists from all parts of the country converged in Lagos to examine the transition programme as it affected women. Lateefat Okunnu, former deputy governor of Lagos State , told the summit that, “women should work hard to be at the decision-making levels so that they can bring to focus women issues.” In line with the advice, more women participated in the 1999 elections.

Newswatch gathered that women are now determined to bridge the political gap between them and the men in the country’s politics. Recently also, Female Leadership Forum, FLF, an NGO, in conjunction with female student union executives in tertiary institutions in the country organised a workshop to train and raise funds for female students who have leadership ambition. Comfort Ogunye, executive director of FLF, traced factors militating against women in leadership positions to lack of fund and inadequate grooming or training. She promised to assist women in their future political career by raising funds for their campaigns. Political analysts see Ogunye’s plan as a good idea worth being pursued vigorously.

Newswatch Volume 37 No. 9, March 10, 2003