Politics
Lagos Assembly Seeks More Women In Legislature
The Lagos State House of Assembly has called on women in politics to take the courage of contesting for seats in the legislative arm of government, to develop the economy.
The chairman, House Committee on Women Affairs and Poverty Alleviation, Mojisola Alli-Macaulay, made the call during a news conference in commemoration of the International Women’s Day in Lagos yesterday.
Alli-Macaulay, representing Amuwo-Odofin Constituency I, said that the country had one of the lowest numbers of female parliamentarians on the continent.
According to her, there are only three females in the Lagos Assembly, out of the 40 lawmakers in the House.
She said that the figure was not in tandem with the 35 per cent affirmative action for women which could further promote women’s participation in governance.
The lawmaker, however, commended Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu for accommodating more women in his administration.
She said that the involvement of more women would contribute to the political and economic development of the state.
Alli-Macaulay said that the 2021 budget, christened “Budget of Hope” had clearly given education a fair share targeting the girl-child, out of school children and lots more.
She, therefore, emphasised on the need for women to be given their pride of place as catalysts for a developed nation.
The lawmaker said that if given the opportunity, women would make the country work again, citing examples of what was happening in developed countries, where women had been able to serve as leaders in high places.
“You see women taking charge in the economies of the world, and I make bold to say our own Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, the Director-General of World Trade Organisation (WTO) is one of them.
“She will be driving the WTO, bringing to bear the best of her negotiation prowess to negotiate for world trade barter deals across the divides all over the world in almost 200 countries on the planet earth.
“We have so many women who actually lead in commerce. We have women who are Prime Ministers and those who are Presidents.
“We have women who are taking charge of powerful positions but I know that very soon in Africa, we will come to terms with the fact that women have more roles to play on development.
“Once they latch on it, they will drive it and we will get to Eldorado. I know that for sure,” Alli-Macaulay said.
She pointed out that political policies were undermining participation of women in politics while societal trajectory discouraged women from actually joining politics.
“A lot of men know what they do to women who are politicians, therefore, they will not encourage their wives to join this same politics.
“They will say stay there, go to the other room and take care of your children because they know what they do to brave women who are in politics who survived the tide in politics.
“All you see women do is to dance at campaign rallies and end up becoming women leaders of political parties at the ward or local governments’ level,’’ she said.
Alli-Macaulay said that women were incubators of success and it was high time government policies were tailored toward favouring them in governance.
The Rivers contest is expected to draw heightened attention in the oil-rich state, as political actors position for influence in a district long regarded as strategic to the balance of power in Rivers State.
INEC disclosed that the by-elections will hold concurrently with the Ekiti State governorship election, underscoring what promises to be a politically charged day across several parts of the country.
Beyond Rivers, the electoral body listed other affected constituencies to include Nasarawa North Senatorial District, Dawakin Kudu/Warawa Federal Constituency in Kano State, Ondo South Senatorial District, and Enugu North Senatorial District.
The vacancies, according to INEC, arose from a combination of deaths, resignation, and other constitutional developments. In Nasarawa, the demise of Senator Godiya Akwashika has left a gap in a district considered a stronghold of the All Progressives Congress (APC). In Enugu, the passing of Senator Okey Ezea has set the stage for a competitive race in the South-East.
Similarly, the Ondo South seat became vacant following the resignation of Senator Jimoh Ibrahim, who now serves as Nigeria’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations, while the Dawakin Kudu/Warawa seat in Kano opened up after the death of Hon. Muhammad Danjuma Hassan.
Analysts say the Rivers South-East by-election, in particular, could reshape political alignments in the state, as parties jostle to fill the void left by Sen. Mpigi and consolidate their foothold ahead of future electoral contests.
Stakeholder from Bayelsa East Senatorial District, on Monday, endorsed the incumbent Senator representing them to run for a second term.
Leading the stakeholders, the former Commissioner for Culture and Tourism and Special Adviser to Governor Douye Diri on Political Affairs (iii), Dr Iti Orugbani, said the reason for the endorsement was based on the federal lawmaker’s trajectory of good deeds and massive execution of projects across communities of the Senatorial district.
Dr Orugbani highlighted some of the projects to include landing jetties, telecommunication masts and town halls amongst others, noting that Sen. Agadaga’s performance has exceeded those of others who hitherto represented the oil rich area.
Bayelsa East Senatorial District comprises Ogbia, Brass and Nembe Local Government Areas of the State.
The Governor’s aide who called on the State’s Eastern political enclave to respect the 2022 new zoning agreement, which guaranteed second term for Senators from the District, stressed the need for political tolerance and peace in the forthcoming 2027 polls.
“In 2022 the leaders and stakeholders across party lines from Bayelsa East held a meeting and altered the old single term for Senators from the district’s agreement and signed that begining from 2023 any Senator emerging from the district must serve for a minimum of two terms.
“In 2023, Senator Biobarakuma Degi-Eremienyo, then an incumbent Senator representing the Senatorial district under the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC) was given a second term ticket by the party. Though he lost to the PDP.
“Now that the entire state is now APC and the District has an APC Senator in the person of Benson Agadaga from Ogbia LGA, why not also give him a second tenure?
“The stakeholders in 2022 changed the old political agreement because they saw that it wasn’t beneficial to the district any longer. And so, because it was Ogbia Local Government Area that started the old zoning arrangement by producing the first Senator in 1999, I want to plead that let Ogbia also begin the new two terms zoning agreement”, he said.
Also speaking, the duo of woman leader of a support group, ‘Agadema Women’, Mrs. Owadaba Jokori and the Information Officer of the Ijaw Youths Council (IYC), Central Zone, Comrade Ikio, stated that the incumbent Senator has done well for the district in the past three years that he has been in office.
They lauded the federal lawmaker for his infrastructure projects, especially the construction of landing jetties in select communities of the three local government areas of the district, commending stakeholders for supporting the lawmaker in his second term bid.
In his remarks, Senator Agadaga thanked the stakeholders for the confidence reposed in him and the endorsements he has received lately from constituents and admirers across political parties.
The lawmaker noted that within the past three years that he has been Senator, he has delivered dividends of democracy to his constituents across the Senatorial District, emphasizing that the call for him to be senator from the Brass Senatorial District came to him as a surprise, noting that he accepted the clarion call when the clamour became so loud.
“I was Chief of Staff to the State Governor, Senator Douye Diri, when various groups from the zone came calling on me to contest the 2023 Senatorial polls.
“Ever since winning the elections as a senator, I’ve continued to deliver on my mandate in both representation, lawmaking, oversight, project execution and support for constituents when called upon. And I shall continue to do more if elected for a second term”, the Senator said.
By Ariwera Ibibo-Howells, Yenagoa
Justice Peter Lifu of the Federal High Court in Abuja has set May 15 as deadline for definite hearing in a suit filed by a lawyer, Johnmary Jideobi, seeking to stop former President Goodluck Jonathan from contesting the 2027 presidential election.
The judge on Monday shifted the hearing date following the absence of the plaintiff, Mr Jideobi, and his lawyer in court without any information.
Apart from the absence of the plaintiff, who is a legal practitioner, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF) and Minister of Justice, who are 2nd and 3rd defendants in the matter, were also not in court.
Following the absence of the plaintiff and the two defendants, Chris Uche, SAN, representing Dr Jonathan, applied to the court to strike out the suit for lack of diligent prosecution.
Having joined issues with each other, Mr Uche said, the suit is liable for dismissal with a N5 million cost to be awarded against the plaintiff and payable to Dr Jonathan.
He argued that from all indications, the plaintiff has abandoned the suit and ran away upon sighting the preliminary objections raised against the suit, adding that the court is a busy place and not for unserious matters.
Justice Lifu, however, noted that there was no evidence of service of hearing notice on INEC and AGF to appear in court for the suit, adding that lack of service of hearing notice is fundamental.
The judge said rather than striking out the suit, he prefers to bend backward to accommodate the plaintiff and the two defendants for the last time.
While adjourning the matter to May 15, Justice Lifu ordered that hearing notice be served on the plaintiff and the 2nd and 3rd defendants who were not in court on Monday.
The plaintiff, Mr Jideobi, had filed the case seeking an order to restrain Dr Jonathan from presenting himself to any political party as an aspirant for the 2027 election.
He is also asking the court to stop INEC from accepting, processing or publishing Dr Jonathan’s name as a presidential candidate.
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