Women’ll have lead roles in our administration – Atiku

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) presidential candidate for the 2019 general elections, former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar, has promised that women will play lead role in his administration if elected.

Atiku who walk into Chida Hotel amidst thunderous cheers from women at the maiden interactive session with women groups in Abuja, yesterday charged Nigerians to hold him accountable.

He said: “I want you to hold me accountable, I will commit to a strong representation of women in our PDP government and also recall that when I was the vice president, I demonstrated this belief, I brought some of the brightest women into our government.

“Gender should not be a barrier. In terms of quantity and quality, women will play a lead role in our administration. I will also want to build a sustainable financial inclusive system that will not discriminate against women.

“Let me tell you what I’ve been trying to do since 1999; to produce one single deputy governor in the northern States. I have tried all my best, I have sponsored women as deputy governors, I lost all my money, up till today I have not succeeded.

“What I will like to propose as far as that issue is concerned is for the party itself to make it mandatory that a certain percentage of the positions of deputy governors be given to women, whether it is 30% or 40%. It should be reserved for women deputy governors, he said.

Wazirin Adamawa also suggested that, ” the only way is to get the parties to make it mandatory to say a certain percentage of deputy governors should be women otherwise, if we allow it to evolve on its own it will take maybe another hundred years .

On security, Atiku, who lamented that security agencies that sworn their allegiance to Nigeria not a particular government and a particular individual, must be made to commit their allegiance to the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

“This government is demanding allegiance to their government and their persons not to the Federal Republic of Nigeria. That is why we see injustice being committed by security agencies all over the place.

“You didn’t witness that with the PDP government only when APC government came to power. They have turned the police to their personal police, they have turned the military, they have done the same thing to all other security agencies”, he said.

In attendance are: PDP National Chairman, Prince Uche Secondus, former Presidential aspirants, Kabir Tanimu Turaki SAN, former Ogun state governor, Gbenga Daniel, Senate Minority Leader, Senator Abiodun Olujimi, amongst others.

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