ONLY President Muhammadu Buhari could say whether he meant it or he was
joking when he declared on Friday that the position of his deputy,
Professor Yemi Osinbajo, after the 2019 general election, could not be
guaranteed.
The Vice President’s office declined comments when contacted on Friday by Saturday Tribune.
President
Buhari was reacting to a request of some female lawmakers who visited
him at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, that he should cede the post of
the vice president, some Senate and House of Representatives seats to
them in next year’s election.
The women from various states
of the federation, under the aegis of Conference of Nigeria Female
Parliamentarians (CONFEPA), urged the president to consider a woman for
the post presently being occupied by Professor Osinbajo.
Buhari told his guests that with their request, Osinbajo’s job was being threatened.
“It
is a pity that the Vice President is not here, but I am sure the
Secretary to the Government of the Federation will brief him that his
position is threatened,” Buhari said.
On their request for him to
make a pronouncement for more legislative seats for women, the
president reminded them that he was not “as powerful as you think,”
noting that he lacked the powers to make such a pronouncement.
He
said such request could only be made by a military head of state as he
reminded them that he had already dropped the uniform for “agbada.”
He
said: “I am not all that powerful that when I talk, it becomes a
decree. As I said, it is only the Vice President that is threatened”.
The president appreciated the support given to him by women in the four times he ran for president.
He recalled reports he received during elections of pregnant women queueing up to vote for him.
Buhari
urged the delegation to take a message to their colleagues to extend
the same support since he has declared to seek a second term.
But
Osinbajo’s spokesperson, Laolu Akande, when asked to react to the
president’s statement, declined comments, asking why he was being asked
to comment on what the president said.
“The president has spoken
(so) why are you asking me to comment,” he told Saturday Tribune when he
was contacted by phone on Friday afternoon.
Led by a former
Speaker of the Edo State House of Assembly, Mrs Elizabeth Ativie, the
women also demanded that the president make a pronouncement that one out
of every three senatorial positions in states as well as three out of
nine seats in the House of Representatives be reserved for women.
Reading from a prepared text, Ativie said: “Your Excellency, all over the world, the issue of women is being advocated.
“Currently,
many African and European nations are daily finding ways to include
more women in governance. Some have elected or appointed women as Heads
of States, Prime Ministers, Heads of Foreign Ministries and other key
positions of decision making.
“It will not be out of place, Your
Excellency, for women to be given such opportunities in our dear nation.
Even God created them male and female.”
Mrs Ativie told President Buhari that Nigerian women were being marginalised by their male counterparts.
She
pointed out Nigeria had had only one female principal officer in each
of the two chambers of the National Assembly since return to democracy
in 1999.
She noted that as president, whatever Buhari says “will become policy and subsequently law”.
Ativie
added: “Politically, women account for over 50 percent of voters in any
election. They are very loyal politicians and do not cross-carpet. They
wait patiently to cast their votes under the rain and even in the
scorching sun.
“It will interest Your Excellency to know that
Nigeria is a signatory to several conventions and treaties supporting
and encouraging the elimination of all forms of discrimination against
women, women liberation and political participation such as the African
Charter in Human Rights (1981).
“The Convention on the
Elimination of all forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW, 1995),
the Beijing Declaration and platform for action (1995), the goal No. 3
of the Millennium Development Goals No. 5 (SDGs), the Universal
Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) to but a few.
“However,
Nigerian women have not been given their rightful place in the scheme of
things. Women political empowerment in Nigeria ranks a lowly 111th
position of 145 countries surveyed in the 2015 Global Gender Gap Report.
“Today,
Nigeria falls short of the National Gender Policy benchmark of 35
percent minimum representation for women as well as the global and
regional benchmarks of which she is a signatory, ranking 181 out of 193
countries in female representation according to statistics from inter
parliamentary union.”
The former Speaker extolled the qualities
of the president, saying: “The impunity with which the former handlers
embezzled with reckless abandon has become a thing of the past in our
country because of Your Excellency’s doggedness, courage, firmness and
integrity in standing for truth, fairness and equity.”
While
allaying fears of female marginalisation, President Buhari gave the
assurance that women were being fairly treated as not many of them would
have been elected if there was any plot against them.
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