The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has appealed to women to vote wisely and shun all monetary and material inducements during the forthcoming elections.
Mrs Pauline Onyeka, the INECs Ebonyi State Resident Electoral Commissioner REC, made the call on Thursday in Abakaliki at a one-day town hall sensitisation meeting with women groups and gender-focused civil society organisations (CSOs).
Onyeka said that womens participation in politics meant participation in the development process urging them to show effective commitment to the forthcoming elections to enthrone credible leadership.
She said that monetary and material inducements erode the credibility and outcome of any election and charged the women to reject money-bag politicians and vote according to their conscience.
It has been argued that countries where men and women participate equally in decision-making level develop faster than those that make no deliberate efforts to involve the two.
As a commission, we are determined to ensure inclusivity; our Bimodal Voting Accreditation System (BVAS) and other innovation introduced by the commission will ensure that your votes count in the election.
The REC said that the commission in response to the National Gender Policy and other regional instruments to which Nigeria is a signatory, developed 2014 its gender policy to ensure that the gender gap in the electoral process was bridged.
She assured participants that adequate arrangements had been put in place to ensure inclusive, credible, transparent, free and fair elections where all votes would count.
She urged the participants to step down the lessons from the meeting to the grassroots to enable female voters to make informed decisions during the election.
Meanwhile, Mrs Dorothy Bello, the acting director, of the Gender and Inclusivity Department in INECs headquarters, Abuja said that the objective of the town hall engagement was aimed at providing an opportunity for INEC to disseminate information on the roles of women in the polls.
She added that the interactive forum would provide a platform to interact and proffer solutions to possible and envisaged challenges that might confront the Nigerian woman.
Bello, represented by Mrs Benny Oguejiefor, Head of Unit, Gender and Inclusivity Department, INEC, Abuja, added that the engagement was to sensitise women on their role as mothers who bore the brunt of violence in elections.
The commission through engagements such as this, is determined to reverse the trend and deepen its commitment to foster gender responsive electoral process.
It is important as women to understand the different manifestoes as well as visions of candidates or platforms that best approximate the interest of women as voters.
Women should not mortgage their future and that of their children by subjecting themselves to material and monetary inducements; they should not involve themselves in vote buying and selling bearing in mind that their vote is their right, Bello said.
Meanwhile, Mrs Amaka Nweke, executive director, of Probity and Accountability Watch Initiative (PAWI), a non-governmental organisation (NGO) said that women must be at the forefront of Take-Back Nigeria through the ballot box.
She decried the underrepresentation and marginalisation of women since the return of democracy in 1999 saying that it was time for women to change the ugly narrative.
When women are in decision-making, we achieve results, God has given us the voice and we are going to speak through our votes in the coming election.
We must as women shun their petty monetary and material gifts which they use to buy our conscience, our votes and this time, we must vote wisely to elect credible and service-oriented leaders, Nweke said.
Electoral Violence: Group takes campaign to FCT motor parks
The Centre For Peace Advocacy and Sustainable Development (CEPASD), in collaboration with Cardinal Onaikan for Peace, has taken its campaign against electoral violence to Nyanya motor park in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).
The Executive Director of (CEPASD), Mr Igweshi Augustine, during the sensitisation programme on Thursday, said there was need to sensitise the motorists to enable them commit to peaceful elections.
Augustine said the campaign was to ensure that the motor parks were safe for travelers before, during and after the 2023 general election for peaceful coexistence in the country.
According to him, there is need for a synergy with the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW) to stop its members from being recruited as political thugs during elections.
The 2023 general elections is here. So, the CEPASD in collaboration with Cardinal Onaikan for Peace is here to launch the Good Voices Against Electoral Violence Campaign in Nyanya Motor Park.
The political elites hire these youths to use them to carry out acts of electoral violence during elections. So, today, we are persuading them to understand that a fair election is possible in 2023.
The situation in the country is very delicate and going by the past experiences, Nigeria witnessed post electoral violence in 2011, during which we recorded colossal loss of lives and properties.
In the same vein, many people travel across every part of the country from the motor parks. That is also why we are working together with the transport unions to sensitise the people to shun electoral violence in 2023, he said.
However, he added that several studies have shown that most electoral violence was perpetrated by hoodlums who lurk around motor parks in the country.
He said CEPASD works to advocate, mobilise, educate youth resilience to champion peace building, advocate against gender-based violence and accelerate the UN sustainable development goals and the African Union agenda 2063.
