Akwa Ibom State chapter of the People’s Democratic Party, PDP, has reiterated its commitment to encouraging more women to participate in the forthcoming local government elections scheduled for October this year.
The State Chairman of the PDP, Elder Aniekan Akpan, who spoke while fielding questions from newsmen yesterday at the party Secretariat, Atan Offot, Uyo, stressed that the party recognizes and appreciates the important roles the women have been playing since the return of democracy in 1999 .
Akpan who explained that the party exempted female Chairmanship and Councillorship aspirants from paying fees for nomination forms as part of encourage them appreciated the leader of PDP in the state Governor Umo Eno for insisting on inclusiveness down to the local level.
His words, “For Akwa Ibom local government election the aspirants are purchasing their forms now. We have said the women who wish to contest should not pay for the nomination form, just the Expression of Interest form. We want to encourage the women, that’s the truth.
“This governor, Pastor Umo Eno has come up with his own Mantra of total participation and inclusiveness down to the local government level. He is trying to say these women have been there for us during mobilisation, during elections you will see the women queuing to vote, so why can’t we allow them to take some positions?.
“So this time around Six females will be Council chairmen . Every senatorial district must have two Chairmen of Council. In the past dispensation I think we had four. The number has been increased.
“Also where a man is Chairman of Council, a female would be Vice Chairman. It is a directive from the governor, the leader of the party in the state. So we are taking our party down to the grassroots and we want total involvement of women”.
On the possibility their female candidates, especially chairmanship candidates winning male candidates from opposition parties at the poll, especially the party rival, the All Progressives Congress (APC), Akpan asserted, “the PDP has no rival. It is the only prominent party in Akwa Ibom.
“We are looking at number. Everybody knows that you need number to win an election. And we (PDP) know that we have the number. And Women are not really weak as people presume”
The PDP Chairman pointed out further that since the state electoral umpire, Akwa Ibom State Independent Electoral Commission, AKISIEC, released its time table for the local government poll, only the PDP has started making preparations towards the exercise.
Describing the PDP as an organized party he stressed, “It has been like that since 1999. And in Akwa Ibom, we are always blessed with good leaders, from Obong Attah to Godswill Akpabio, then Udom Emmanuel and currently the golden governor of the golden era”.
Continuing , Elder Akpan noted that the party would commence sales of its Expression of Interest and nomination forms for Chairmanship aspirants today Wednesday, 24, 2024
“And all the party aspirants already have our guidelines and they have to adhere strictly to the guidelines. We want everybody to go through the processes without friction. Some local governments have already agreed on consensus.
” So I can assure you that by the time we go for our congresses which would be done simultaneously as directed by the national office there would be no problem. The party can guarantee a Free, credible congresses”, Akpan asserted.
