Female candidates that contested for various elective positions in the last general elections in Bauchi State have lamented their travails.
Speaking at the ‘Women Candidates Dialogue Forum’ organised by the Young Leaders Network (YLN) held in Bauchi, they lamented that various challenges were discouraging women from engaging in politics.
The forum brought women from different political parties to assess the challenges faced during the last general elections in order to find ways of addressing them.
Speaking, the Green Party of Nigeria candidate for Bogoro Constituency, Mantuda Adamu, said her major challenge was lack of finance and was labelled a prostitute.
“As a woman, if you come out boldly to contest in Bauchi State, they will say you are a prostitute. If they call you for a meeting at about 10pm or 11pm, people will say you want to go for business (prostitution) and not for politics,” she said.
Adamu said she didn’t realise how capital intensive political contest could be until she approached the major political parties to contest on their platforms.
Another candidate, Balkisu Ayuba who contested on the platform of Social Democratic Party (SDP) for Dass Constituency, said some of the executives of the party said she would not be allowed to contest in the party because she was not married, adding that her life was also threatened on the day she flagged off her campaign.
