Women’s organizations have urged for more political inclusion after the 2023 general election saw fewer women elected. Nigeria must address women’s political and governance engagement, according to WARDC and WRAPA.
The organizations spoke at a South-West public hearing on the 2023 general election titled “The Effects of Violence and Corruption.” The MacArthur Foundation, NCAA, Women in Politics Forum, GECORN, 100 Women Lobby Group, Gender Technical Unit, and Womanifesto supported the project.
At the ceremony, WIPF Lagos State Coordinator Hon. (Mrs.) Taiwo Salvador-Bello bemoaned the worrying underrepresentation of women in the just-concluded 2023 presidential and National Assembly elections despite the efforts of many organizations. Salvador-Bello remarked, “A lot happened during political party primaries. Voting ladies were assaulted. We engaged women and trained them to stand out in elections.
They were expelled from the three major political parties to minor parties. But we know what happens during elections—if you are not among the three major parties, you have a very tiny chance at the general election.” She advised political women to reject claims that other women detest them.
Her words: “I urge women to rise up and start correcting negative myths about their political ambition.” Salvador-Bello also asked election monitoring organizations to be more proactive in protecting citizens and handing over electoral criminals to the court for punishment to deter others. She claimed this would enable more women and vulnerable groups to vote.
WARDC Director Mary George Peluola stated women should be appointed to political roles to encourage them to run. She blamed the underutilization of women for political corruption. “We have numerous ladies in this gathering, many women representing different political parties and civil society organizations,” she remarked.
The recent election was clearly a disaster for women. “It causes distrust and disengagement. Several ladies were slain or maimed outside their homes or polling places.We are here today to say that if we want our democracy to be robust, the government must embrace gender equality and incorporate gender in all parts of governance.”
Statistics show that since 1999, just 157 women (38 senators and 119 representatives) have been elected to the National Assembly, compared to 2,657 men (616 senators, 2,041 reps). The February 25 presidential and National Assembly elections have highlighted Nigeria’s failure to execute many treaties and regulations that promote women’s political participation. Only three women gained Senate seats in February, while only 15 won House seats. 48 women won the March 18 governorship and state Houses of Assembly elections out of 1,019 who ran.
4.7 per cent of women succeed. Three more women were elected to state parliament in 2023 than in 2019 when 45 were. It needs to be more accurate. The 36 states had 10,240 candidates for the 990 state Houses of Assembly seats. Nine thousand two hundred twenty-one men and 1,019 women competed. Only 48 women won state legislative elections out of 1,019 candidates, or 4.7 per cent. This is a 1% increase from the departing state assemblies’ female lawmakers.
4.41 per cent of 36 state House of Assembly members were women in 2019. Ekiti State has the most of the 48 women elected to state legislatures in 2023. Six women will fill the state House of Assembly’s 26 seats. Only four women were elected to the Ekiti State Assembly in 2019. In 2023, Kwara and Akwa Ibom had the second-most female lawmakers. Both states have five and four female legislators.
Akwa Ibom’s outgoing assembly contains only two women out of 26 seats. Four now. Kwara State, which had the second-most female MPs in the just-concluded State House of Assembly election, had no female lawmakers in its parliament in 2019. Lagos State elected three women. This is Ondo State. Ondo State gained one female lawmaker, while Lagos State maintained its 2019 number.
An additional study revealed that 15 states still needed to elect a single female representative in the recent state houses of assembly elections. All save Kaduna State will have male-dominated assemblies. Kaduna State has two female lawmakers this year. None in 2019. Only Adamawa and Taraba will have female lawmakers in their upcoming assemblies in the North-East. The region’s other four states won’t.
Only one woman will serve in the 25-member Adamawa State Assembly, whereas two will serve in Taraba State. Taraba State Assembly had no women in 2019. Also, in Adamawa. Abia, Imo, Niger, Osun, and Rivers will not elect female lawmakers in the upcoming legislature. Abia State will have no female legislators for the second election in a row. Males held all 24 House of Assembly seats in 2019.
