APC insensitive to gender sensitivity ― Mrs Adanri, Ondo Reps aspirant

A House of Representatives aspirant under the platform of All Progressives Congress (APC) in Ondo state, Mrs Bisi Adanri, on Monday, criticised the party for not encouraging women participation in politics, saying men were making things difficult for women in politics.

Adanri who stated this in Akure, Ondo state capital, noted that the APC in the state has failed to be gender sensitive in picking its candidates for all the elective posts for the 2019 election.

She stressed the need for the national leadership of the party to concede some slots to female aspirants, rather than scheming them out of the race, saying the development could discourage women from aspiring to public offices.

Adanri called on the wife of the president, Aisha Buhari, to assist women in addressing the issue and said “I am going to use this medium to appeal to the wife of Mr President, if there is anything she can do to support female aspirants or candidates or women in politics, this is the right time to do such,”

The female aspirant also called for the implementation of the resolution adopted by the UN at the end of the Fourth World Conference on Women in September 1995 in Beijing, China, that women should be given greater access to policy-making.

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She said: “I have been in politics since I retired in 2004. I aspired to the House of Representatives three times. This is my third attempt.

“I am just appealing to those in power to think about that Beijing Convention. Nigeria was signatory to it and I think women should be supported.

“All of us know that in most cases, we have consensus candidates. But when consensus candidates are picked, women are not favoured in any form.

“If you look at the current dispensation, especially in Ondo state, you will discover that for the three senatorial seats in APC, we have men, no single female.

“No female aspirant was considered as a consensus candidate or in whatever form used to pick the three senatorial candidates.

“For the House of Representatives, we have nine seats. If we go by the Beijing Convention, we expect that we should have at least three female candidates.

“We have about four female aspirants but, at the end of the day, they have come out with nine male candidates for the House of Representatives in the APC for instance.

“If you look at the House of Assembly, the same thing happened. All the candidates are male. Female aspirants were not favoured in any form.”

She frowned over the attitude of women in the country towards politics in the country, saying they only paid lip service to helping women, especially those in politics.