Rep. Miriam Odinaka Onuoha, an aspirant for the Speaker’s position in the 10th House of Representatives, has appealed to all male contenders for the seat step down for her.
Onuoha, who is currently representing Okigwe North Federal Constituency in the House, made the call at a media parley in Abuja on Wednesday.
Persecondnews reports that the re-elected lawmaker used the occasion to formally declare her intention to run for the number four position in the country.
She urged the President-elect, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, to run an inclusive government and give gender equality a priority attention.
She said: “President-elect Bola Ahmed Tinubu is a he for she who has always empowered women in all spheres of life, electing and supporting a female speaker will become another test for him driving 35% affirmative action as well as an action plan towards the implementation of the national gender policy.”
Onuoha also highlighted the dwindling number of women in the national political landscape, and also pleaded with political actors to “cede” the Speaker of the 10th Assembly to her.
“in all the position in this country the men have dominated them, seeding this one position to me would be a way of proving to that you are running an inclusive government.
“I use this opportunity to call on my male contestants to consider the love and the care Nigeriab voters have showed to them and as a mark of honour step down.
” I call on the male contestants to step down in the interest of peace and understanding,” Persecondnews quotes Onuoha as saying.
Onuoha is the pioneer House Committee Chairperson on Disability where she championed the implementation of the discrimination against persons with disabilities.
She pointed out that her track record is impeccable and that she will be a service- driven leader who understands the plight of citizens, and also proffer micro- economic solutions to the problems of the country.
She added: “I will be a service-driven leader who understands citizen’s considerations and participation is what Nigeria truly needs with the view to proffering microeconomic solutions to the nation’s economy.
“I am in this race to be speaker of the 10th House of Representatives to bring fresh ideas and pragmatic solutions to the current challenges of our national cohesion.”
This is coming barely one month the European Union Chief Observer, Barry Andrew, lamented the lack of level playing field for women in the political landscape of the country in the just concluded general elections.
“This demonstrates clear underrepresentation of women in political life; most importantly it also shows the lack of internal party policies to support, promote inclusion of women.
“Let me also remind you that it is up to 40 years since Nigeria signed up to the United Nations Convention on the elimination of all forms of discrimination against women,” the Chief Observer said.
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