2027: Abure-led LP promises more opportunities for women

The leadership of the Labour Party (LP) under Mr Julius Abure has assured women of more opportunities to fly the flag of the party at the 2027 general polls.

Speaking in Abuja on Thursday at the Aju Morgan Elumelu Foundation (AMEF), Abure cited leadership as a major challenge confronting Nigeria, calling on women to collaborate to assume the reins of power.

For instance, he said the LP, taking cognisant of the role of women, was already appointing them into leadership positions.

Abure added that the LP had deliberately created opportunities for women to participate, not just in the affairs of the party, but had also given them opportunities to run for offices, including the 2027 polls.

The National Publicity Secretary, Mr Obiora Ifoh, in a statement, quoted Abure as saying, “I want to assure you that by 202, God sparing our lives, under our leadership, we will provide more opportunities for women.

“We appreciate the fact that culturally, economically, financially, there are several inhibitions against women’s participation.

“I want to assure you that the Labour Party is ready and determined to break those challenges that will encourage women to participate.”

The Chief Executive Officer, AMEF, Amb. Aju Elumelu, on her part, lamented low representation of women in leadership positions.

She urged President Bola Tinubu and other stakeholders in the polity to ensure 35 percent women’s representation and empowerment in leadership positions.

She said, “The goal here is to have women in leadership, elective, appointive positions, not just in politics but across the board.

“We’re not here to get mad or agitated but I’m asking you, President Bola Tinubu, to help us. We don’t have gloves to fight. We’re just asking you guys to think about us; everyone needs to be involved because we only have a measly percentage.”

Available records show for example that out of the 109 senators in the 10th Senate, only four are women. The situation is not better in the House of Representatives, where out of the 360 lawmakers, women have 16 representatives.

Also speaking, the National Women Leader of Labour Party, Dudu Manuga, stressed that space for women in leadership, governance, and politics had been shrinking over the years but maintained that the bill for special seats for women should be passed into law to enhance the chances of women getting into leadership positions.

“I have never seen this kind of effort coming together to see that we have more women in the legislature. So, I think if we can have that bill passed and we’ll continue with the aggressive advocacy and mobilisation, we’ll get it right this time around”, she told the session.

However, Manuga called for collaboration among women at all levels of government to ensure the passage of the bill.

“What we now need to do is to encourage women in every state to meet their legislators and discuss with them.

“Let us lobby for this thing so that we get everybody to be on the same page and have it passed, but for now the political parties have a long way to go,” the women leader further stated.

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