The National Chairman of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), Dr Abdullahi Umar Ganduje, has canvassed for the amendment of the electoral Act to boost women’s participation in the governance of the country.

Ganduje also stressed the need for the economic empowerment of women to achieve the objective.

The Kano born politician spoke when members of the Rinsola Abiola-led Progressive Sisters Network (PSN) paid him a solidarity visit at the national secretariat of the party in Abuja.

Ganduje argued that the amendment of the Electoral Act is required to compel political parties to reserve enough seats for women in various elective and appointive positions in the country.

He said it takes an economically empowered woman to raise the money required to be able to procure expressions of interest and nomination forms, organize rallies and engage in other outreach activities during the electioneering period.

Applauding the role played by PSN in the successful outing of the APC in the recently held general elections, he noted: “The declining participation of women in governance is an issue we need to look into.

“We need to research into it. from a legal viewpoint and from the economic perspective. The notion of no woman, no nation will feature well if they can compete very well at the grassroots level.

“I am not saying politics is all about money, but if you have financial backbone, you can organise campaigns, print posters and pay for transportation and other key logistics like publicity.

“If women are empowered and given the skills to participate, they can actively compete with men at the political terrain.

“Another aspect we need to look at is through legislation. if political parties are forced to have women candidates, they would have no option but to do so. This will improve women’s participation. These are issues politicians should consider.”

Rinsola, who is the PSN’s national coordinator, decried the steady level of women’s participation in governance across the 36 states of the Federation in spite of their contribution to the political and socioeconomic development of the country.

She referred to the decline of women’s representation from 22 to 17 in the national Assembly in the 9th and 10th Assemblies to buttress her assertion.

Applauding the role played by Ganduje in the appointment of Dr Mariya Mahmoud as Minister of State for the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), she called on Ganduje to wade into the issue of women’s exclusion in the governance of the country.