Co-convener of the Not Too Young To Run campaign, Samson Itodo, has asked political parties in Nigeria to understand the importance of women representation in public offices.
Itodo who was guest on Channels TV News at 10, said that parties should take the initiative of nominating women who aspire to run for office, instead of burying their ambitions.
He added that political parties who turned down women in the 2019 General elections should bury their heads in shame.
I dont think we have to wait for women to push for more representation, I think our political parties should bury their heads in shame with the number of women that get party nominations.
A lot of women aspired to run for office, but how did the parties actually treat them? For some of them, they didnt avail them forms for purchase, some of them were asked to bury their ambitions because they are women.
Political parties must understand that for progress as a society, they need to involve women, he said.
He urged members of the National Assembly to ensure that they pass legislation that will encourage more participation of women and people living with disabilities.
The 9th Assembly has the responsibility to ensure that the equal opportunities bill as well as other legislation that encourage and increase women participation is passed and that is a legacy they must leave behind and people living with disabilities in the political process.
On the issue of youths representation in public offices, Itodo said that the figures achieved so far is minute compared to the over 1000 elective offices.
READ ALSO: EU Election Observation Mission Presents 30 Recommendations To INEC
He added that with a massive representation of young people in leadership, there will be a new paradigm in legislative governance.
We are so happy that in some states, young people are emerging into leadership positions.
It places a huge burden, these young people have got some value that they bring to the table and we wont see a new paradigm in legislative governance because its a minute figure, considering the fact that there are over 1558 elective offices that were contested for in the 2019 general election.
Itodo added that the new batch of leaders will have a generational burden of performance if their performances are not impactful.
We are very concerned; there is a lot of pressure since their emergence because these young people in leadership position have that generational burden of performing because their performance will impact on the number of young people that are given more opportunities to run for public office.
We are very optimistic that these new leaders that have emerged will perform and change the business of public governance, noted.
