Sophia Michaels
36 State Women Leaders of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) and that of Federal Capital Territory (FCT) have shown support for the party’s national women leader, Betta Edu.
Their support comes amidst a report that some aggrieved women leaders of the APC had on Saturday passed a vote of no confidence on Edu.
Recall that the APC women leader and other party leaders had on Friday visited President Bola Tinubu at the Presidential Villa in Abuja.
However, APC-elected women executives and zonal leaders have unanimously passed a vote of no confidence in Edu and distanced themselves from her recent visit to the President.
However, in what looks like a looming crisis, elected female APC officers and their zonal counterparts have expressed dissatisfaction with Edu’s leadership.
According to Daily Post, the APC Deputy National Treasurer, Hon. Omorede Osifo, and eight other women leaders had written to the President about their satisfaction with Edu.
The aggrieved women leaders alleged that Edu misrepresented the women of the party during her visit to the Presidential Villa.
They further asserted that Edu wasn’t representing the interest of elected National Women Officials and Zonal Women Leaders of the party as she portrayed during her visit to the president.
The aggrieved women leaders also claimed that many of the women she paraded during the visit were fake and not the democratically elected national officers, including National Executive Council Members, Zonal Women Leaders, three women senators, 15 female House of Representatives members, and other relevant women leaders and stakeholders.
But, in what looks like a counter-reaction, the 36 APC state women leaders and the FCT, in another statement, have dismissed the allegation that Edu paraded fake women during her visit to President Tinubu.
They said everyone can not visit the President immediately, so the aggrieved party should wait for their time.
The statement, issued by Victoria Uko on Saturday night on behalf of the 36 women leader, disclosed that the 36 State Women Leaders were present at the meeting with the President except for one of them, who was represented by someone else.
According to the group, other women groups in the party, including the zonal and female NEC members, will have their turns to visit President Tinubu.
The statement partly reads, “We understand their desire and anxiety to meet with Mr. President, and we assure them that the President will also be very happy to meet with them all. He runs an open-door policy.
“However, the engagements will happen in batches, and more women will be involved. Let’s be patient and rest assured that the request presented by the National Woman Leader and the women from the 36 states of the federation, as well as FCT, covered the interests of all Nigerian women and APC women in particular, who worked so hard for his victory in the last elections.
“Everyone will be rewarded in due course.”
It was gathered that the nine aggrieved women are Hon. Omorede Osif — Deputy National Treasurer; Hon. Olubunmi Oriniowo — APC National Ex-Officio South-West; Hon. Oluwatoyin Opawoye — APC National Ex-Officio North-Central; Princess Zahra Mustapha Audu — APC Zonal Women Leader North Central; Mrs. Yetunde Shakirat Adesanya —APC Zonal Women Leader South-West; Hon Mimi Uchenna Diyiokeh — APC Zonal Women Leader South-East; Hon Zainab A. Alman — APC Zonal Women Leader North East; Mrs. Cynthia Princewill —APC Zonal Women Leader South-South and Hajia Hadiza Ahmad Shagari —APC Zonal Women leader North-West.
