LG polls: PDP seeks more women in elective offices in Akwa Ibom

Ahead of the October 2024 local government elections in Akwa Ibom State, the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, has expressed the desire to see women occupy more elective offices.

To achieve that, the PDP state chairman, Elder Aniekan Akpan, while interacting with journalists in Uyo on Tuesday, said the party has given a waiver to female aspirants to purchase the Expression of Interest form, while the main form, the nomination form, would be given free of charge to them.

The chairman said that was the directive from the leader of the party and governor of the state, Pastor Umo Eno, to encourage more women’s participation in governance.

He said the party was targeting having at least six female local government chairmen, two from each of the three senatorial districts and four female councillors from the 368 wards in the state.

He, therefore, urged women, whom he described as strong and resourceful, to maximise the opportunity given by the governor to take up these elective positions in the forthcoming council elections.

According to him: “We want to encourage women; we are gender friendly. This governor has come up with his own mantra; total participation and inclusiveness down to the local level.

“Women have been there for us. In mobilisation, going to elections, you see them lining up to vote, so why can’t we reciprocate and allow them to take up some of these positions?

“It was a directive from the leader of the party, the governor. We need numbers to win and women are there in their numbers. They are not as weak as people presume. We have strong and capable women and we want to give them the opportunity to excel.”

The chairman also said the sales of councillorship forms would end on Wednesday, July 24 and that of chairmanship begins immediately the same day.

While expressing the readiness of the party to conduct the primaries and the elections proper, elder Akpan urged the aspirants to adhere strictly to the party guidelines, even as he promised to provide a level playing field to all of them.

“The aspirants already have our guidelines and they have to adhere to them strictly; we want everybody to go through the process,” he said.