Emerge Women Development Initiative (EWDI) has totally condemned the commendation letter and request for courtesy visit by Mrs Comfort Lamptey, UN Women representative to Nigeria, ECOWAS and Governor of Kogi State, Yahaya Bello.
NewsSpecng learnt that the reason given for the commendation was the appointment of twenty-one women as deputy chairpersons of all the 21 LGAs in Kogi State.
The initiative said the above act does not deserve commendation from UN Women, stating that the laws in Nigeria both at federal and state levels makes provisions for the Local Government Chairmen and their deputies to be elected and not appointed.
“So, for the UN Women to celebrate these appointments, regardless of their gender, negates the work that we do to ensure that elections at the LG level are credible.”
The initiative further stated that one of the issues with the UN Women’s letter is commending a governor who is stifling the process of credible elections at the LG level.
“For us, the act is illegal and therefore the UN Women’s letter is an endorsement of an illegality. The appointment of deputy LG Chairpersons rather than supporting them in running successfully in free and fair elections weakens the agenda on gender mainstreaming into leadership and decision making positions.
“It also subverts democracy. We ask the UN Women, is expediency now better than insistence on the rule of law?
“Albeit, the commendation is premised on the need to encourage the governor on his appointments of women into political office, this cannot be done in disregard of the larger context of the governor’s actions and inactions.
“Moreover, if that is the compelling reason for the commendation of the governor, it is on record that Rivers State has a woman as her Deputy Governor, female Commissioners, female state assembly member, female Senator, Female Appointees, 1 LGA Chairperson and 22 LGA Vice Chairpersons. To be clear, these women appointments have been in place for many years in Rivers State yet we have not read that UN Women commended the Governor of that state”, it stated.
EWDI also pointed out that many organizations and women working extremely hard in the country to promote women political participation from institutional perspective are yet to receive commendation from UN Women.
Expressing their pains, EWDI said the UN Women office in Nigeria never issued a press release to condemn sad events nor offered a statement seeking justice for the women killed or abused in Kogi state.
“The Kogi Governor’s election took the life of a Woman- Mrs. Salome Acheju Abuh, a PDP Woman Leader who was burnt alive to death in her house after elections in Kogi State. Another woman in the person of Natasha Akpoti was viciously attacked and violated for seeking election as Governor of Kogi State.
“The Kogi Governor’s Commissioner allegedly raped a young woman in the presence of her 3-year-old son without the Governor reprimanding him. In fact he is still a commissioner in Kogi State! There are many other human rights infringements on women in that State which we cannot recount here.
“In all these, the UN Women office in Nigeria never issued a press release to condemn these sad events nor offered a statement seeking justice for the women. We believe the UN Women’s commendation is faulty, questionable and unfortunate given the atrocities committed against women under the watch of the incumbent Governor of Kogi State”.
The initiative therefore expect the UN Women office in Nigeria to reconsider this ill-advised idea of commending the Kogi State Governor.
“We call on all women and right groups in the country and globally to join us in calling on Mrs. Comfort Lamptey, the UN Women Representative in Nigeria to kindly consider withdrawing the Letter of Commendation to Kogi State Governor and a cancellation of the planned visit as a mark of respect for all the women who were victims of political violence and injustice in the last Kogi State Governorship Elections. An injustice to one woman, should be seen as injustice to all”.
Emerge Women Development Initiative (EWDI) is a gender focused civic organisation working across Nigeria and Africa to attain gender justice and gender equality in Education, Health, Economic Empowerment, Social Inclusion, and in leadership and decision making processes/positions.
