Governor Godwin Obaseki of Edo has said that most of the crises rocking the State House of Assembly would have been averted if women were elected in place of men.

“My only regret till date is that I didn’t work hard enough to bring in more women into the state House of Assembly during the last general elections.

“You all know the situation under which we conducted that election. We can see the crisis we have in our House of Assembly,” he said.

Mr Obaseki stated this at an event to mark this year’s International Women’s Day (IWD) held on Tuesday at the Government House, Benin.

He, however, assured women of more seats in his cabinet the state House of Assembly in the 2023 general elections.

“So, we have learnt our lesson and this coming election, you don’t need to preach to us.

“I will go out there to campaign and more women will be elected into our state House of Assembly.

“The crisis we have may have been avoided if we had more voices of reason in that house,” Mr Obaseki said.

The governor said that the IWD celebration would have been an epic one if the National Assembly had set aside all unfounded misgivings and passed the bills.

On March 2, the National Assembly rejected gender bills during the voting on the amendments to the 1999 Constitution.

The bills sought to promote more opportunities for women in political parties, governance and the society at large.

(NAN)