Only three women invited to key APC campaign meeting with 76 attendees

Only three women made the list of 76 people invited to the first All Progressives Congress (APC) presidential campaign council meeting happening on Tuesday in Abuja.

The meeting is set for 2 p.m. at the campaign council headquarters on Herbert Macaulay Way, Central Business District, Abuja. This information comes from an internal memo dated 18 October and signed by the council’s Secretary, Governor Hope Uzodimma of Imo State.

Gender imbalance

Out of the 76 people invited, 73 are men and only three are women. This means women make up about 3.9 percent of the attendees.

The three women invited are all in secretarial roles. They are Zainab Marwa, Secretary of the Directorate of Infrastructure Mobilisation and Sensitisation; Hadiza Usman, Assistant Secretary in the Secretariat; and Stella Okotete, who is listed as Secretary I in the Directorate of Election Planning, Coordination, Monitoring/Mobilisation.

The memo also lists the vice chairpersons, state coordinators, and various director generals and deputy director generals expected to attend.

"Kindly note that the meeting is strictly by invitation to the list of attendees as attached herewith," the memo states.

Several key members of the campaign council will be there. These include Nyesom Wike, the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory; Osun State Governor Ademola Adeleke; Anambra State Governor Chukwuma Soludo; and Governor Uzodimma himself.

Also expected are Senate President Godswill Akpabio, Speaker of the House of Representatives Tajudeen Abbas, and Kwara State Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq, who are listed as deputy vice Chairmen I, II, and III, respectively.

Other notable members include Yobe State Governor Mala Buni, who is the deputy director-general I for the North, and Deputy Senate President Barau Jibrin, serving as deputy director-general II for the region.

The reporter tried to contact Oguwike Nwachuku, the chief press secretary to Governor Hope Uzodimma, for comments. Unfortunately, poor network connectivity made this impossible.

An SMS was sent to him for a response, but none had been received at the time of publishing.