Toun Okewale Sonaiya, the Chief Executive Officer of Women Radio 91.7, the first and only radio station that advances the rights of women in Nigeria, has charged all governors across Nigeria to nominate at least one woman among the three names they are required to send to the incoming administration for ministerial appointments.
Okewale-Sonaiya who said the responsibility for ministerial appointments lies not only with the President-elect, H.E. Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu but also with the governors of the respective All Progressives Congress (APC) states, who are putting forward names for nomination, appealed all APC state governors should nominate at least one woman.
She stressed that “one female nomination per three nominees by governors, APC chairmen and leadership in non-APC states would translate to approximately 35% in accordance with the affirmative action and bridge the vacuum created in 2023 elective positions.”
The Women Radio CEO stressed that “competent and capable women politicians and female technocrats hail from all Nigerian states and every man and woman should play a part in rebuilding the socio-economic fabric of our beloved country. While our men are great nation builders, they require the support and input of women. Only when men and women lead together can Nigeria progress.”
She charged political parties to “revisit their manifestos and match their words with actions in terms of female recognition within the party, as marginalization against women in elective positions arises internally.
“I hope that our amiable governors will raise the stakes of our polity for the sake of the great Republic of Nigeria and that the incoming administration will both uphold the demands of women as promised and write its name in the books of Nigerian history in good standing.”