Senator representing Adamawa North in the upper chamber of the National Assembly, Senator Binta Masi Garba has thrown her weight behind the decision of the leadership of the party to cause women to pay for their nomination form as against the previous idea of giving them a free ticket to contest for party positions.
Garba who made history as the first woman party chairman in the country in 2014 when she emerged the APC Chairman in Adamawa state also threw her weight behind the clamour by the wife of the President, Aisha Buhari to have one female senator per state and one third of members of the House of Representatives as women.
Speaking with newsmen after obtaining her nomination and expression of interest form to contest the party primary for Senator, Garba said it was better to have women pay for the nomination form, while the party should bear the cost of campaigning for the woman after the primaries.
She said “I was one of those who moved that women should be allowed to pay for their form, while the party at the various levels should bear the logistics for the elections. It is not enough to give us free ticket and allow us to bear the logistics because the logistics involved in the real election is too heavy for the women to bear.
“so, if we give them free ticket and allow them to bear the logistics, we will still be back to the same position. The best way to encourage women is to take over the logistics for the election. When we do that, I am sure that we will encourage many women to seek elective office because they will be confident going into the election.
“The wife of the President is canvassing that we have at least one female senator per state. I think we should all support that. It is the only way we can achieve 35 percent female representation”, adding that she was humbled by the fact that she was the only female Senator in the entire 19 states of the north.”
Justifying why the APC in Adamawa settled for Indirect primary as against the direct primary being suggested by the national leadership, Garba said the security situation in the state does not favour the direct option.
She disclosed that as a result of the activities of insurgents in her senatorial district, four wards in Madagali local government area of the state are still not occupied as residents who flee the area are yet to return home.
While praying for rancor free primaries, Senator Garba said “what would you prefer? To secure the votes or to secure the lives of the people. We have settled for indirect primaries not because we are afraid of direct primaries, but because of our peculiar situation.
“We have over 140 members in the State Executive Committee of the party and over 100 of them met and unanimously agreed to the use of direct primary. For the senatorial race, we have 12 aspirants contesting my position and I am not afraid to face them whether in direct or indirect primary. But in the interest of our people and for the security of lives and property, we have adopted indirect primary.
“This thing is about service to the people. I believe that power belongs to God and He gives it to whomever. If I am destined to go back to the senate, to God be the glory. I was in the House of Representatives three times, representing two states of Kaduna and Adamawa and now in the Senate”.