Mr Benson Olugbuo, Executive Director, CLEEN Foundation, has called on political parties in the country to be fair to female aspirants by providing them with equal opportunities as their male counterparts.
He made this call in an interview with News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Friday in Abuja.
Olugbuo stated that his organisation had recently received several complaints from female political aspirants whose names were omitted or replaced with different candidates despite paying the fees for party nomination forms.
He stressed that any effort to empower women and enable them to participate in the running of the country would greatly reduce poverty and boost development in the country.
“We know that women are more connected to the family as well as the community as a whole; giving them opportunities to rule will, therefore, bring government closer to the people.
“We recently conducted a comparative survey of female political office holders in some countries in Africa and we found out that some countries like Uganda, Ethiopia and Rwanda are ahead of Nigeria as regards affirmative action.
“In Uganda for instance, there are some political positions reserved exclusively for women; therefore, men would not be able to contest for those positions, irrespective of their political parties.
“We need such laws in Nigeria so that women can be well represented in governance,’’ he said.
Besides, Olugbuo called on women and youths in the country to support competent female political candidates in the forthcoming elections, irrespective of their political parties.
NAN reports that CLEEN Foundation is a non-governmental organisation, which aims at promoting public safety, security and accessible justice in Nigeria. (NAN)
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