Aisha Buhari laments decline in elected female lawmakers

Hajiya Aisha, the wife of President Muhammadu Buhari, has expressed concern over the decline in the number of female legislators in the 8th Assembly.

Aisha spoke on Sunday in Abuja at a reception organised by the Committee of Friends in honour of former Governor Rotimi Amaechi of Rivers State.

She said for the nation to attain the 35 per cent affirmative action by 2019, men must encourage and support women to occupy key elective positions in the country.

She said: “Supporting women to contest elective positions has become imperative as the number of female legislators have declined because some of them lost their seats during the last general elections.

“As the number of female legislators decline, we wish the men in Nigeria will support the women to attain the 35 per cent affirmative action in 2019.”

Aisha specifically commended Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, a chieftain of the All Progressives Congress, for the support given to his wife, Senator Oluremi, in winning a senatorial seat from Lagos.

She urged men, particularly those in politics, to emulate the former Lagos State Governor by encouraging their wives to vie for elective positions come 2019.

Aisha also commended Amaechi for his courageous roles that led to the victory of the APC in this year’s general elections.

She said Amaechi stood firmly by the party, showed commitment, courage and patriotism in ensuring that the country attained the positive change it was yearning for.

The wife of the president noted that as the Director-General of the APC Campaign Organisation, Amaechi showed “doggedness, toughness and steadfastness”.

Speaking at the event, the Vice President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, described Amaechi as “a man of tremendous courage, who stood the wrongs in the Peoples Democratic Party, even when he was a member of the party”.

Osibajo said Amaechi’s role in the last election stood out and that accounted for why he was being celebrated.

He said: “One thing I personally admire about him is his forthrightness, his ability to say it like it is and we have never been in doubt about where he stands on any issue at all.

“He has the capacity for the big ideas.

“Any state governor that will build a railway is a man of big ideas.”

Osinbajo said Amaechi’s education policy as governor in Rivers State had given new hope to children, adding that he would not only be remembered by these children, but also by generations to come.

NAN.