First Lady Aisha Muhammadu Buhari has appealed to presidential aspirants to adopt women as their running mates in the 2023 presidential election.
The first lady made the appeal when she hosted presidential hopefuls from various political parties to Iftar Dinner at the presidential villa on Saturday.
According to her, considering the voting strength and involvement of women in politics, they should be adopted as running mates in the forthcoming elections.
She said, “In fact, it is high time women are adopted as running mates at all levels, considering their voting strength and active involvement in political processes.
“As we approach the 2023 elections with greater hope, I am confident that Nigeria will continue to grow from strength to strength on the pedestal of our democratic tenets.”
She also encouraged the aspirants to ensure that the forthcoming elections are fair and free.
According to her, the 2015 presidential election which her husband won “was neither contested in the court of law, nor in the court of public opinion.
“Therefore, the greatest end-of-tenure gift that fellow Nigerians can give to the first family is another free and globally-acknowledged fair election come 2023,” she said.
Those who attended the event included the national leader of the All Progressives Congress (APC) Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, Governor Dave Umahi of Ebonyi, Mallam Nasir El-Rufa’i of Kaduna, Governor Bala Mohammed of Bauchi.
Also, minister of Labour and Employment, Senator Chris Ngige; minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Godswill Akpabio; one-time national chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Chief Barnabas Gemade; former speaker of the House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara; and oil and gas mogul, Tein Jack-Rich.