Former Edo Assembly Speaker dumps APC over non-inclusion of women in elective positions

A former Speaker of the Edo State House of Assembly, Hon. Mrs Elizabeth Ativie has resigned from the All Progressives Congress (APC) over the alleged non-inclusion of women in elective positions.

She asked for a third force for members to freely express themselves outside the APC and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

She announced her resignation on Tuesday at a briefing in the Government Reservation Area (GRA) Benin.

Ativie’s resignation, which was addressed to Edo Chairman of APC, Col. David Imuse (rtd.), was passed through the party’s Chairman of Irhue Ward 4, and APC’s Chairman in Uhunmwonde LGA, Ehor.

The letter reads: “This is to convey to you that I have officially resigned from the APC, with immediate effect.

“The reason for my resignation is attributed to the current unresolved crises facing APC in Uhunmwonde and Orhionwwon LGAs, and the entire APC in Edo State.”

There were speculations the former speaker, who is an ex-chairman of the National Youth Council of Nigeria (NYCN) Edo chapter, wanted to join Labour Party (LP) but she was not forthcoming assuring that her position would be made known in the next one month.

Ativie said: “I wish to inform my teeming supporters and the general public that I have officially resigned from my former party, the APC, as a result of the crises since after the last primaries, in view of lack of internal democracy, with some persons allowed to hijack the party.

“It is not because I did not have the opportunity to have the ticket (to represent Uhunmwonde/Orhionwwon constituency in the House of Representatives) but I have been a feminine activist, and I have fought assiduously to ensure women’s inclusion in decision making in Edo State and Nigeria.

“It is unacceptable that all the women in Edo State, who sought elective positions on the platform of APC in the primaries were illogically prevented from picking the tickets. APC does not have a female candidate in Edo South Senatorial District that I belong. I cannot remain in such a political party that has no regard for women’s inclusion. Hence, I decided to throw in the towel.”

The former Speaker urged her teeming supporters to remain calm while assuring that in a few weeks, she would let the whole world know her next political action/move.

A former Speaker of Edo State House of Assembly, Mrs. Elizabeth Ativie, presented a copy of her resignation to the Chairman of Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), Edo council, Festus Alenkhe, during a news conference in Benin on September 6, 2022.