The Forum of 37 State Women Leaders of the All Progressives Congress and the Federal Capital Territory have expressed their disappointment and feeling of abandonment by President Bola Tinubu, despite their hard work and contributions to his electoral victory in the last election.
During a solidarity visit to the National Chairman of the APC, Abdullahi Ganduje, at the party secretariat in Abuja on Tuesday, the women leaders voiced their discontent over being excluded from party politics and appointments.
The Forum’s President, Patricia Yakubu, stated that it is disheartening that none of their members have been considered for appointments or post-election rewards from the presidency.
She noted that after the 2023 general election, they received only a token gift of a bag of rice and a paper wrapper each, which they found insulting.
Despite their frustration, the women leaders expressed their support and confidence in the Ganduje-led National Working Committee, according to NaijaNews.
The forum appealed to President Tinubu and the party leadership to recognize their sacrifices and contributions to the party’s victory, emphasizing that they deserve to be part of federal appointments.
More so, they accused the Ministry of Women Affairs and Social Development, led by Dr. Uju Kennedy-Ohanenye, of distributing N50,000 cash palliatives without extending any benefits to their members.
She said, “We, the forum of 36 States women Leaders and the FCT have come to pay you a solidarity visit and unanimously say, we believe in you as the National Chairman of our great party. We unequivocally pass a vote of confidence on you and reiterate the fact that the 36 States women Leaders are solidly behind you and the National Working Committee of our great party.
“But the state women leaders will want to advocate that we should be carried along in all the affairs about women in the states. We are closer to the party women at the grassroots, the largest voting bloc in the secular world. Our demography should not be neglected. Since after the elections, Your Excellency may note that only one bag of rice and one paper wrapper was given to the state women leaders from the national secretariat of the party.
“Nothing was given to us during Easter, the Ramadan fasting period, and Salah festivities. Even the palliatives distributed were not given to the women leaders for onward distribution to the grassroots, We party women waited and waited and waited to no avail very sad. Your Excellency respectfully, we wish to notify you that the Women Leaders sacrificed so much towards the victory of our great party during the 2023 elections.
“Our women went through a lot at the last election. We took a great risk sleeping on the grass in open spaces at the Women Development Center in Abuja and almost every state during the electioneering period to ensure victory. The house of one of us was demolished on election day by the opposition party in her state to distract her from canvassing votes for the party.
“The son of a member was kidnapped a day before the presidential election. Another woman was detained at the police station for three days from the election day. One of us was involved in a ghastly motor accident during the campaign in her community and she is still in and out of the hospital. Your Excellency, the women have not been compensated for all their pains and sacrifices, we are feeling neglected.
“We will also want to respectfully draw the attention of His Excellency, our Father, the advocate of women’s empowerment to the fact that most of the Federal Government programmes that have to do with women sound like news to us. We want to plead with you to use your good office to discuss with the ministers and heads of agencies to involve our women in their programmes, especially in states where we don’t have APC governors.”
