Minister of Women Affairs, Pauline Tallen, stormed the National Secretariat of the All Progressives Congress (APC), on Wednesday, to present a memorandum before the Party Constitution Review Committee led by Professor Tahir Mamman.
An eight-man Constitution Review Committee was inaugurated on March 1 with a one-month timeline to review the APC 2014 Constitution.
Checks revealed that Pauline Tallen in her memorandum demanded the establishment of a system of gender mainstreaming that incorporates the policy of 40 per cent of women representation in party organs. While also asking the Party to strengthen the office of the Women Leader to serve as the focal point for the implementation of gender issues within the party, the Minister of Women Affairs is equally asking the APC to devote at least 15 per cent of its annual budget to the delivery of increased participation of women.
Speaking with newsmen shortly after her meeting with the Professor Mamman led Constitution review team, Honourable Tallen said the absence of women in the APC statutory organs apart from the Women Leader was unpardonable.
She said: “We demand affirmative action. You will agree with me that women toil and give the highest votes of all the elections. The absence of women in the party structure is what bothers women. We are here to demand the amendment.
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“We were aware last week, the party inaugurated the Committee for the amendment of its constitution. Immediately we heard about the inauguration of the Committee, we swung into action. We happened to be the first because we agree that we are the most marginalised. And that is unacceptable for national development. We are here to demand affirmative action.
“We need more women in the party structure and for all elections. We are demanding that no gender, women or men should occupy more than 60 per cent as against the other. We are demanding gender equality. We are demanding full participation and representation of women in the party structure and all elective seats in our dear country Nigeria.”
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