Ireti Kingibe, the Senator representing the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja, has lamented that being a woman in the National Assembly is hard.
Giving details on this claim, the Senator noted that lobbying to get things done has become a major preoccupation for her.
News About Nigeria reports that she made the revelation in her defence after rural women in the FCT accused her of abandonment and ingratitude after voting for her in the last election.
A representative of the women who spoke on anonymity at the 8th and 2024 edition of Voice of Women, VOW, conference, and awards, which was held on Thursday in Abuja, lamented how the Senator abandoned grassroots women who voted for her in the last election.
She further stated that the women are disappointed, as not even an iota of appreciation in terms of training and empowerment has reached the women since after the election.
Responding to this claim, Kingibe defended herself, saying that it has not been easy for her as the only female in the National Assembly.
She further lamented the fact that the women were not acknowledging all she has been doing in the FCT since she came into power.
The Senator also revealed the many projects she has done within one and a half years in office.
She said, “For the record, I am the only woman elected in the FCT. Now, there’s this misconception as to what everybody defines what governance is. To me, it is bringing the most to the people. I have been a senator for a year and half, I am primarily a legislator. I have bills waiting to be passed, creating the nursing and midwifery school In Gwagwalada, I have a maternal free healthcare for women. I have a few of such bills still pending. But notwithstanding, since I have been a senator, I have empowered and I have everything on record. I have empowered 10,000 people. Now, it is not possible, FCT has 4 to 5 million people and for me to personally see everybody that voted for me. I am also building a 50-bed hospital, I am putting an ICT centre in Gwagwalada and Nyanya, I paid with my personal money 2,000 JAMB forms for free.
“So, at the end of the day, governance means to me, bringing things for the general good and not for the individual. The truth is that being a woman in the National Assembly is very, very, very hard. So, I have to lobby for everything. When I leave here, I will go to the National Assembly, sign in and then go from ministry to ministry so that all those things that doesn’t get attention by the executive, I can slip them into the budget from lobbying different ministers to put it in their budget. I have also renovated with my personal money and allowance the ante-natal centre in Gwagwalada teaching hospital. Any of you can go and verify all these things. So, I’m sorry, yes women complain, I haven’t come to them one by one; it is not possible.”
