By Luminous Jannamike, Abuja

Women in Politics Forum, WIPF, yesterday condemned the rise in violence against female politicians in the country with an appeal to Nigerians to report such attacks through the authorities.

The Forum also urged Nigerians to shun acts capable of undermining the conduct of a free, fair and credible general election in the country this year.

Speaking at a press briefing in Abuja, the President of WIPF, Barrister Ebere Ifendu, noted the decline in the number of females contesting the 2203 general election and demanded for greater inclusion.

She said, “For example, in the forthcoming 2023 General elections, there are 15,331 candidates across all 18 political parties in Nigeria, and only 1,534 are females, which translates to about 10 percent.

“This shows that the political participation of women in Nigeria is a national issue of concern, with a continuing record of underrepresentation in both elective and appointive positions.”

On the spate of violence against women in the political space, Ifendu called on all security agencies to prioritize the protection of lives and properties in the election.

She cautioned them against using their position to intimidate the electorates.

The WIPF President said the Forum had reached out in partnership to the Nigerian Security and Civil Defense Corps (NSCDC) with the recent launch of the N-Alerts app to ensure safety of Nigerians at the 2023 polls.

Consequently, Ifendu urged all Civil Society Organizations deploying observers for the 2023 elections to make use of the N-Alerts as part of the measures to combat violence against women in the forthcoming elections.

Amongst other things, she said: “We call on the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to strictly adhere to the provisions contained in the electoral act for a free, fair, and credible 2023 General Election. We urge INEC to ensure that ad-hoc staff are treated fairly, to carry out their role effectively and efficiently.

“We call on all observers to obey the guidelines and provisions for election observation. Observers should observe and report, remembering that intervening is not part of their roles on Election day.

“We call on all political parties to ensure that all their agents on election day obey the guidelines and provisions on election day, and information and reports that will provoke the populace to violence, chaos, and conflict should be avoided completely.”