Since the start of the fourth Republic until now, women’s representation in politics has never exceeded 6%. Nigeria currently ranks 139th out of 156 countries in the list of countries with the largest gender gap.
1999 had the lowest representation of women holding political seats with only 2.5% representation, the highest percentage of women in political offices was achieved in 2011 and again in 2019 with 6% representation each year.
On March 1, the first day of the Women’s Month celebrations, the National Assembly rejected bills that would have, among other things, increased women representation in politics. Although the assembly finally bowed to pressure and rescinded their decision on three of the bills after sustained protests by groups advocating for the bills, these three did not include those that will increase women representation in the political space. The national assembly is not reviewing its decision on the extra seats for women in legislative Houses and the 20 per cent quota for women for appointment into federal and state cabinets.
As the 2023 election approaches, the question of women representation across the federal, state and local levels of government remains. If the off-cycle elections in Anambra and the next one in Ekiti are anything to go by, women representation may remain an unanswered question in 2023.
For the Anambra governorship elections, although two women had appeared on INECs initial candidates’ list contesting for the highest office of the state, they were no longer on the ballot on election day. For the Ekiti elections, according to the final candidates list released by INEC, out of the pool of 16 candidates only 2 are female.