Wife of President Goodluck Jonathan, Dame Patience Jonathan, on Tuesday called on Nigerians not to vote for a presidential candidate, she said, would put women in pudah(female Islamic dress) or trample on their rights and enslave them.
In a veiled reference to the Presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress, Maj. Gen. Muhammadu Buhari(retd.), she stated that women deserved to be given due recognition and opportunities and not to be relegated to the background.
She spoke in Lokoja, the Kogi State capital, during the Peoples Democratic Party’s women campaign rally.
The President’s wife said Jonathan’s administration had given women more opportunities to actualise their dreams and showcase their potential.
Dame Jonathan said the current administration had offered women great opportunities to be part of decision making in national governance.
According to her, Nigerian women had also been empowered and provided job through the agricultural revolution and other Federal Government’s initiatives and interventions.
She called on the electorate to re-elect Jonathan, noting that the introduction of U-Win and Subsidy Reinvestment Programme had created many jobs for the teeming unemployed Nigerian youths.
She said, “This administration identified and reckoned with women. Women were empowered; they were given opportunities to serve the nation and they performed creditably well to the admiration of the people.”
The Kogi State Governor, Capt. Idris Wada, said Jonathan’s administration had ensured great infrastructural provision and human capital development in the state.
The State Deputy Governor, Mr. Yomi Awoniyi, said the turnout of women at the rally was an expression of love their for Jonathan.
Source: PunchNg
