Why more women will contest 2019 elections in the North —Sa’adatu Mamuda, APC Women Leader, Bauchi State

Hajiya Sa’adatu Mamuda is the Bauchi State All Progressive Congress (APC) Women Leader. In this interaction with newsmen, she speaks on the essence of the Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs) and why women should contest for elective offices in the 20129 elections. ISHOLA MICHAEL brings exceprts.

Why are you embarking on door-to-door campaign in Bauchi State?

I thank the almighty Allah as we came out with my people, we are going from one house to another to take our door-to-door campaign to enlighten women whom we believe are the majority of voters to come out and get their permanent voter cards (PVCs) ahead of the 2019 general election. The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) had recently alerted us that it printed over 93,000 PVC) in Bauchi State and they want the electorate to go and collect them. As you may be aware, all eligible voters will not have the right to vote if they don’t get their PVCs. Even those that already have their PVCs should please check and make sure it is available. Where it is not available, they can go to the INEC offices close to them and report before the conclusion of the ongoing voter’s registration exercise. We also see women who are living in areas that are different to where their husbands resides. We are advising them that they should also inform INEC officials about their places of residence so that their PVCs can be transferred to the nearest polling stations where they reside presently. We are doing this as part of the contributions of my office to enlighten eligible voters to come out to register and vote for the candidates of their choice in the forthcoming elections.

Men are predominantly the aspirants contesting for elective offices across the country. Are you satisfied with the situation?

I am not satisfied with the number of women contesting elective positions in the country, but I can assure you that more women are coming out to contest in all parts of the country in 2019. More women will contest because our party, the All Progressives Congress (APC), gave women more opportunities to contribute to nation-building. When you observe today, more women are in active politics, but our number in electoral positions is not enough, especially in Northern Nigeria where we have only one female senator, Senator Binta Masi. But in the other parts of the country, there are more female senators across the geo-political zones. With the encouragement we have been receiving from the wife of the president, Hajiya Aishatu Buhari and the wife of the Bauchi State governor, Hajiya Hadiza Abubakar who is the chairperson of the Northern Governors’ Wives’ Forum, we have hope that more women will contest. With the awareness we have carried out, I can assure you that we will see change. You can remember recently that women in elective positions visited President Muhammadu Buhari and demanded for the slot of the vice president and some others. This is to show you how women are determined to contest elective positions in 2019.

Are you putting men on the alert that women will come out enmasse to compete against them this time around?

Let me clarified that: We are not competing with men. We know that men are our fathers; they are our husbands. We respect them and remember that it is in their own wisdom that they even allow us to participate in active politics. They even appointed us in different positions, like in Bauchi State where our governor, Mohammed Abdullahi Abubakar, appointed three women as commissioners. Look at the number of women in the Federal Executive Council (FEC): This is to show you that our leaders always encouraged us; they allowed us to hold different offices at our party level in APC.

By the grace of God, our men will graciously open the space for women and allow us to contest for more elective positions in 2019, still with their support. We are not contesting against them and we have high hopes that they will allow us to generously contribute our quota to nation-building. I can assure you that they will allow us and we will come out and contest.

But your party is bedeviled with so many problems arising from the result of the congresses held recently. How are you going to do it ahead the 2019 elections?

Even though it is not time for politicking, but I can assure you that APC will come out of all its challenges and elect credible candidates that will win elections in 2019 when you consider the numerous achievements recorded in the country and the respect that Nigerians have for President Muhammadu Buhari. All the challenges you have been seeing in APC is part of democracy. We will unite ourselves as one family. Remember, when we are not together-we came from different families-we united ourselves in the interest of the country. We will still bury our differences in the interest of the country and we will not let Nigerians or the people of Bauchi State down. Everything will be resolved amicably.