Abike Dabiri-Erewa, Chairman of National Diaspora Commission, on Saturday tasked Nigerian women to increase their voting participation during elections.
Dabiri-Erewa gave the charge while commenting on the low turnout of women during Saturday’s Governorship and House of Assembly Elections.
She also said in spite of the fact that women constituted a larger number of Nigeria’s population, only a few of them currently hold political offices.
Dabiri-Erewa, who is also Senior Special Adviser to the President Muhammadu Buhari on Foreign Affairs and Diaspora, raised a concern over the low turnout of women at her Ward A4, Unit 11, Isele 1, Ikorodu, Lagos State.
She urged the women to be more active in politics, adding that their participation would provide opportunities for a active democratic process.
She said: “Women participation enriches democracy and makes it more responsive to the aspirations of the people.
“It is, however, unfortunate that women participation in the political process is limited.
“Look around here now, there are about 10 per cent of women who came to vote, while the rest are men.
“This reflects women’s weaker interest in politics and their lower levels of knowledge about politics.”