C’River North Bye-election: Female aspirants urge PDP to be gender sensitive

By Joseph Obung | Blueprint

Some female aspirants for the Cross River North senatorial district bye-election on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) have appealed to the party’s National Working Committee (NWC) to field a female candidate.

Acording to one of the aspirants, Mrs Martina Odom, the party should ensure that a female candidate emerges to allay fears that it is insensitive to the yearnings of women electorate.

“I appeal to the National Working Committee of our great party to be gender sensitive by picking a woman to fly the party’s flag.

“Late Senator Rose Oko was a female, therefore, it is naturally just that a woman should take that position to complete her tenure,” she said ahead of Saturday’s elective congress.

Odom, who has been cleared along four others to contest the primary, said choosing a female candidate would enhance the chances of the party in the poll.

Similarly, another female aspirant, Dr Mary Iji, said that giving the party’s flag to a female would ensure equity, justice and fair play.

“I also lend my voice to the call to the NWC to consider choosing a female as the party’s candidate in the senatorial bye-election.

“Late Senator Rose Oko was the only female legislator from the state before her unfortunate demise.

“So, if the party takes away the ticket from women, it means that Cross River State will not have any female representative in the National Assembly. This will be unfair to the womenfolk,” Iji said.

Meanwhile, four of the five aspirants cleared for the PDP primary election have protested against the consensus delegates’ list released by the party in the state.

Reacting to the said list, an aspirant, Dr Ogana Lukpata, said that the list was full of persons that were not qualified to be delegates.

“Under the party’s guidelines, three delegates are supposed to emerge from each ward based on certain criteria, but as we speak, I don’t know where they manufactured the list that has been published.

‘Even my name, an aspirant, is not on the list. All of us were asked to remain in our wards and wait for the officials.

“We waited and didn’t see anybody, only for a list to emerge as consensus delegates. The list is full of political appointees who don’t have any business being there,” he said.

Already, he said, the aspirants had made their grievances known to the NWC and appealed to the party hierarchy to revisit the list before the Saturday’s delegates congress.

It would be recalled that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has scheduled the senatorial bye-election for October 31, 2020.