Women in the All Progressives Congress (APC)) have appealed to the presidential candidate of the party, Bola Tinubu, to choose a woman as his running mate in the 2023 presidential election.
The women support group, under the aegis of the APC Nigeria Women in Politics (WIP), made the appeal on Tuesday, saying that they have mobilised support for Tinubu.
WIP’s national convener, Princess Bolanle Kazeem, spoke with newsmen at the Unity Fountain demonstration ground in Abuja, during a mobilisation rally held for Tinubu and sensitisation of women to register and obtain their Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs) for them to vote in the next year general elections.
She said that women decided to support Tinubu because of his leadership qualities.
She said APC WIP, with members from across the 36 states of the country, has become tired of politicians who promised to provide good governance to the masses during electioneering campaigns, only to end up deceiving and disappointing them.
Mrs Kazeem added that the former Lagos State governor and National Leader of the APC has a good track record in the provision of security and infrastructure and the management of the Lagos State economy for collective prosperity.
She said, “We are expecting 35 per cent of Asiwaju’s cabinet to be made up of women, but if we get more than that, we don’t mind. This is so putting into consideration the input of women in elections.
“Let the party give us our 35 per cent affirmative action. I want to say that the women in the country want a female Vice President. Let the party give us the VP position. We are making this demand on Tinubu too because we know he has sympathy for women.
“We, the women, have agreed and are ready to give our time and support for our father, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu. As the APC women, we will garner and produce for him about 40 per cent of all the votes cast in the presidential election.
“We believe he can be a good president and take Nigeria to the next level. That is why we are bringing ourselves together to canvass and mobilise for him and to vote for him.
“In the areas of insecurity, economy, and infrastructure, we know Asiwaju has done this in Lagos and they are the smallest things for him to do for the nation.”
Speaking further, Kazeem said WIP remained convinced that Tinubu would fully implement the 35 per cent affirmative action for women’s inclusion in politics in Nigeria.
She, therefore, urged Nigerian yet to register for their PVCs to make sure they do so in order to be able to vote credible leaders to office in the 2023 elections.