Senator Oluremi Tinubu, representing Lagos Central Senatorial district at the National Assembly, has accused the All Progressives Congress (APC) of using and abandoning women.
The lawmaker, whose husband, Bola Tinubu, is the National Leader of the party, made the allegation during the debate on the general principles of the 2016 budget proposal at plenary in Abuja on Tuesday.
After commending Senate President Bukola Saraki being gender sensitive, Tinubu ripped into the APC, arguing that “the change that was expected is not the change that is being experienced now.”
Senator @RemiTinubu goes on to say that women in IDPs were only used for elections and now they have been abandoned.
— Nigerian Senate (@NGRSenate) January 26, 2016
Senator @RemiTinubu says the change that was expected is not the change that is being experienced now.
— Nigerian Senate (@NGRSenate) January 26, 2016
She questioned the budgetary allocation of N4 billion to the Federal Ministry of Women Affairs and Social Development, saying the figure is inadequate.
According to her, the allocation will not be adequate to meet the yearnings and aspirations of the Nigerian women, who are looking up to the APC-led government for succour in line with its 2015 campaign promises.
“This budget is less than N4 billion and the capital is almost N3 billion. When you look at it what is left to do any work.
“I am laying this case on behalf of the Nigerian women that this is not going to go well. It is as if we have been used during the campaign.”
“We say this is the government of change that our change mantra is supposed to change things across board but what they allotted to the Nigerian women is not encouraging.
“When we talk about change that doesn’t mean we are going to just be supporting what is not working. So the women are not just going to be used to campaign and several promises are made to them.
This budget is not telling anything and not making any promises,” she said.
The lawmaker argued that the N1 billion ear-marked for recurrent will hardly cater for the empowerment programmes under the ministry.
She spoke further: “When we look at the functions of this ministry, we see that the ministry is divided into two, human resources and capacity building, economic services and women cooperatives.
“But when we look at the first division, which is the human resources and capacity building, they are supposed to promote education, development of women in the civil, political, socio-cultural, and economic sectors.
“Also to promote motherhood women’s health especially maternal mortality; and not only that, they are supposed to fund six zonal political empowerment offices.
“Subventions and grants to NGOs, Nigerian women trust fund, management of shelter for female victims of violence, 100 women lobby groups, welfare support for indigent women.”
She called on the Senate Committee on Appropriation to increase the allocation considerably to enable the ministry meet its obligations to Nigerian women.
There are speculations that the lawmaker’s husband, who was governor of Lagos State between 1999 and 2007, is also bitter at his waning influence in the APC under President Muhammadu Buhari.
