The Deputy National Woman Leader of Nigeria’s ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), Zainab Ibrahim, has called for the adoption of a “twinning formula” that would compel the party to field female running mates in governorship races, saying men should be barred from occupying deputy positions.
Ibrahim, speaking with journalists in Abuja at the weekend, said the arrangement had already been adopted in some countries and could be easily implemented without legislation.
“Aside from the special seat advocacy that we are undertaking, we are also strongly advocating for twinning. The twinning does not even require any National Assembly (legislation). It does not require anything. It’s just a policy by a political party,” she said.
She explained that her idea stemmed from a meeting in New York in 2016 with the then vice president of The Gambia. “I asked her, Gambia is an Islamic country, how come you became the vice president? She told me all their governors have deputy governors as women because the ruling party adopted the twinning formula.”
According to Ibrahim, if APC had adopted the system, there would already be 24 female deputy governors across states under the party’s control.
“So, you see, it is just a policy pronouncement by the party and then it becomes. Now, if my party, APC, should adopt the twinning formula, we have 24 states APC controls, we would have had 24 deputy governors,” she said.
“To me, the lowest hanging fruit to women inclusion in politics is the twinning formula and we are working strongly on it. You know, the special seats bill will have some legislative backing at the end of the day but when a party formulates a formula, it is subject to changes and that is why we are paying more attention to that of the special seats bill,” she added.
Ibrahim cited Rwanda and Namibia as examples of countries that reached or surpassed 50% female representation through the system. “By the grace of God, it can even be achieved faster than the special seats bill,” she said.
She recalled that former Kogi State governor Yahaya Bello implemented the policy at the local government level. “All the local government chairmen, the vice chairmen were women. That is what we call twinning formula. So we are now waiting to see such become a policy especially of the leading political parties in Nigeria who have a large number of states they control,” she said.
Ibrahim argued that women would throw their full support behind politicians who embrace the system. “Every governor that tells us, number one, his deputy is going to be a woman, every local government vice chairman is going to be a woman. What else do we want from any governor, rather than to give him our 100% support?
“I believe that Mr President, sooner or later, is going to adopt that for us and you will see how every Nigerian woman will support Mr President, by the grace of God.”
Beyond APC, Ibrahim said her role as deputy national secretary of the Inter-Party Advisory Council (IPAC), the umbrella body for all registered political parties, also tasked her with advancing women’s participation.
“I also head the women directorate created by IPAC. IPAC has three directorates, the women, youth and people with disabilities. I head the directorate of women of IPAC. So, my relationship is not just with women of APC. No, I deal with every party category member who is a woman in Nigeria.
“Under my directorate, I have the 19 national women leaders and under them, we have the 37 state women leaders. Under them, it cascaded down to unit level. So, my relationship is not just with APC state women leaders. I deal with every woman leader of every political party, and we are working hand-in-hand,” she said.