2023 presidency: CSOs urge parties to pick women, youths as running mates

Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) under the aegis of Conference of Civil Societies of Nigeria has appealed to political parties and their presidential candidates to pick women and youths as their running mates for the 2023 general polls. Addressing a press conference yesterday in Abuja, the Chairperson of the Conference of Civil Societies of Nigeria, Comrade […]

Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) under the aegis of Conference of Civil Societies of Nigeria has appealed to political parties and their presidential candidates to pick women and youths as their running mates for the 2023 general polls.

Addressing a press conference yesterday in Abuja, the Chairperson of the Conference of Civil Societies of Nigeria, Comrade Adams Otakwu, lamented that of all the political parties in the country, none had a woman as presidential standard bearer for the 2023 general elections.

Otakwu said, “Less than five per cent of gubernatorial candidates are women, while over 95 per cent are men. Less than 10 per cent of candidates for the federal parliament are women, while over 90 per cent are men. Less than 20 per cent of candidates for state parliaments are women, while over 80 per cent are men.”

“These figures fall far below the global average, where women hold about 23 per cent of the seats in parliaments according to the Inter-Parliamentary Union data on global average.”

He further said Nigerian women, youths and People With Disabilities (PWD) deserved to be at the epicentre of political governance in 2023.