No fewer than 32 women aspirants across the 23 local government areas of Kaduna State have indicated interest in seeking elective office in the May 12 local government poll.
Mrs Florence Aya, the President of Women Mentoring and Leadership Initiative (WOMFOI), disclosed this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Kaduna on Wednesday.
Aya said the women are seeking councillorship and chairmanship positions in the election.
She also said some woman had indicated interest to occupy the chairmanship position of the ruling All Progressives Congress in the state.
Aya further said that dozens of women aspirants had began to show interest in the House of Assembly as well as the National Assembly seats in the 2019 general elections.
She described the development as “good omen,” saying that the number of women interested in elective office in the state is on the increase due largely to the leadership mentoring of women by WOMFOI.
“For some years now, WOMFOI has been mentoring women who want to go into politics.
“We mentor them on how to aspire for any political office; how to source for funds, how to mobilise support and all what they need to do to fulfill their dreams.
“We also train them on public speaking and how to use the media to create the needed publicity and awareness for constituency mobilisation,” she said.
Aya, a former legislator in the Kaduna State House of Assembly and the House of Representatives, said WOMFOI was established to equip women with knowledge of politics and leadership.
“When I was in active politic some years ago, I never had the opportunity of being enlightened on how to maximise opportunities for elective political positions.
“I just summoned courage with little or no idea on how things will turn out and surprisingly, I was able to make exploits.
“WOMFOI was established to fill the vacuum and teach women how best to participate in politics,”she said.
Aya said WOMFOI has more than 100 members cutting across political parties in the state.
She also said the group was working on how to get their male counterparts to support them.
“We will also make sure that we send the list of our aspirants to Gov. Nasir El-Rufa’i to enlist his support to ensure that three or more women emerge as local government chairpersons and councillors in the forthcoming poll,”she said.
Aya commended the Commissioner for Women Affairs and Social Development in the state, Hajiya Hafsat Baba, for supporting women to participate fully in politics.
NAN
