PDP Amazons Canvass Support For Eyitayo Jegede
Greater time is definitely ahead for women in Ondo State as notable women within the fold of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) are seriously canvassing support for the ticket of Eyitayo Jegede and Gboluga Ikengboju ahead of the October 10, 2020 governorship election in the Sunshine State.
A major awareness, sensitization and votes canvassing campaign for the Eyitato/Gboluga ticket is being led by the PDP National Woman Leader, Hajiya Mariya Waziri, the senator representing Ekiti
South Senatorial constituency, Senator Abiodun Olujimi, former Deputy Governor of Osun State,
Erelu Olusola Obada, member representing Ajeromi-Ifelodun Federal Constituency of Lagos State, Hon. Chief Rita Bolu Orji, former member of Ondo State House of Assembly, Hon.Kemi Adesanya and of course the wife of PDP gubernatorial candidate, Mrs Ebunoluwa Eno Jegede.
Alongside the campaign for Eyitayo/Gboluga ticket, the National Woman Leader is also the programme of Gender Equality, Women Empowerment
and Strategic Mobilization of women. Women within the fold of PDP particularly in Ondo State have been assured of a legally backed 35% affirmative action provided they are prepared to work for the party’s victory in the forthcoming governorship election.
As things stand now, 6 slots out of the 17 positions for Ward executives in Ondo are already reserved for women. Also, 6 out of the 18 local government executives have been reserved for the women provided they can vote PDP into power come October 10, 2020. Moreso, it has also been legally guaranteed that 13 out of the 39 state executive of PDP are certain to be women if the party could get elected into office. Similarly, 4 out of the 12 zonal executive members of PDP have been reserved for women. Above all, 6 slots out of the 19 National Working Committee members of the party are certain to be women in accordance with the spirit of the 35% affirmative action.
Ahead of the October 10 governorship election in Ondo State, a project of inclusion and advancement has also been created to provide an accessible and enabling environment for PDP girls and women to make proactive participation in politics. In a similar vein, the National Woman Leader of PDP in conjunction with other PDP amazons have also worked to strengthen PDP’s institutional capacity for gender
mainstreaming by partnering with local and international organisations such as UN Women, International Republican Institute and Nigerian Women’s Trust Fund.
Meanwhile, a compendium of PDP affiliate women groups and
women support groups have also been produced for the purpose of ensuring holistic inclusion of women in party activities going forward. In addition, an intervention scheme had also been set up to support women aspirants that may encounter difficulty during elections. Similarly, efforts have also been geared by the PDP amazons towards strengthening the strategic basis of data availability for programmes on gender equality.
To cap it all, serious efforts are also been made to ensure women empowerment and to also put in place an operational
and result based management modalities that will provide a
platform for effective monitoring and reporting of results of
women mobilisation activities across the states.