2027: INEC Challenges Parties to End Lip Service, Back Women for Political Leadership

By Pan Afric Reporters

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has challenged political parties to move beyond rhetoric and take concrete, measurable steps to increase women’s participation and representation in Nigeria’s political leadership ahead of the 2027 General Elections.

The position was contained in the Commission’s Daily Bulletin, Volume 2, No. 488, dated September 9, 2026, featuring the opening remarks of INEC Chairman, Prof. Joash Amupitan, represented by National Commissioner, Prof. Rhoda Gumus, at a strategic engagement with political parties, female candidates, civil society organisations, development partners and the media in Abuja.

Speaking at the engagement, Gumus said Nigeria’s democracy could not achieve its full representative potential if women were mobilised primarily as voters while being denied meaningful opportunities to emerge as political leaders.

“A democracy that mobilises women as voters but provides limited pathways for them to become political leaders is yet to fully realise its representative potential,” she said.

She said the issue went beyond women’s participation in a single electoral cycle, describing it as a question of the character, inclusiveness and long-term sustainability of Nigeria’s democracy.

According to Gumus, women accounted for 44,414,846 of the 93,469,008 registered voters in the 2023 General Election, representing 47.52 per cent of the electorate.

She disclosed that women had also maintained a strong presence in the ongoing voter registration exercise ahead of 2027.

Of the 3,867,997 Nigerians who completed registration in the third phase of the exercise as of July 26, 2026, women accounted for 2,037,589, or 52.68 per cent, compared with 1,830,408 men.

“Women therefore accounted for the majority of new registrants in the final phase of the exercise,” Gumus said, stressing that “women are not marginal to Nigeria’s electoral population. They are a substantial part of the electorate.”

The National Commissioner, however, noted that the numerical strength of women at the polling units had not translated into corresponding representation in political parties, candidacy and elective offices.

Citing data from the 2023 elections, she said only 1,556 of 15,331 candidates across major elective positions were women, representing just 10.15 per cent.

She added that only three women were elected to the Senate and 16 to the House of Representatives, representing 2.8 per cent and 4.4 per cent of the respective seats.

“A substantial gap appears to exist between women’s participation as voters and their participation as political leaders,” Gumus said.

She consequently called on political parties to examine practical ways of supporting female aspirants and candidates, including access to party structures and leadership, campaign platforms, media visibility, fundraising networks, mentoring, political communication, logistics, security and grassroots mobilisation.

She also urged parties to critically examine whether women were being given genuine opportunities to rise through their internal structures.

“The participation of women is not a favour to women. It is a democratic imperative,” she declared, urging political parties to move “from commitment to action, from aspiration to implementation.”

In her welcome address, the Secretary to the Commission, Dr Rose Oriaran-Anthony, represented by the Director, Gender and Inclusivity Department, Lakunuya Dorothy Bello, said advancing women’s political participation required sustained collective action.

Oriaran-Anthony described political parties as the principal vehicles through which citizens organise, seek elective office and participate in democratic governance, stressing that their internal policies, structures and practices significantly influence who contests and wins elections.

She urged stakeholders to approach the engagement with openness and collaboration, saying the objective should be to move beyond merely acknowledging challenges towards practical and achievable commitments.

The objectives of the engagement, presented by the Deputy Director, Gender Relations, Mrs Hembadoon Akaayar, included securing concrete commitments from political parties to support female candidates, promoting equitable access to campaign resources, increasing the visibility of female candidates and strengthening protection against political violence, intimidation, harassment and discrimination.

Other objectives included creating a supportive political environment for women, sustaining political support for women beyond 2027 and strengthening collaboration, monitoring and accountability among stakeholders.

“Our expectation is that this engagement will produce practical and measurable commitments from participating political parties rather than general expressions of goodwill,” Akaayar said.

She added that INEC was particularly interested in commitments that were “specific, measurable and capable of being followed up.”

Delivering the keynote address, Oluwole Osaze-Uzi, Esq., a former INEC Director of Voter Education, Publicity, Gender and Civil Societies Liaison and former Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, Edo State, said Nigeria continued to lag behind several countries in women’s representation in elected public offices.

Osaze-Uzi noted that although women constitute roughly half of Nigeria’s population and electorate, they account for only about five per cent representation in the National Assembly, while no woman has ever been elected President or Governor in the country.

Tracing female presidential candidacy from 1999 to the 2027 electoral cycle, he noted that three women were among the 14 presidential candidates for 2027, describing the development as an improvement but still inadequate compared with Nigeria’s democratic potential.

He cited Rwanda, Senegal, Namibia, South Africa, Mozambique and Cape Verde as examples of African countries that had adopted various approaches to improving women’s representation, including statutory and voluntary gender quotas.

According to him, 41 of Africa’s 54 countries now operate some form of gender quota.

Osaze-Uzi identified legal, cultural, security, financial and political-will barriers as major factors limiting women’s political participation in Nigeria.

He advocated stronger legal frameworks, party enforcement mechanisms, dedicated campaign funding for women, mentorship programmes and zero tolerance for intimidation, threats and sexual harassment against female candidates.

“The evidence also shows how much can also be achieved even with voluntary quotas where there is a strong commitment and political will,” he said.

INEC urged political parties to use the engagement as an opportunity to make concrete and measurable commitments to their female candidates ahead of the 2027 General Elections.

Gumus stressed that women who constitute almost half of Nigeria’s electorate, and who accounted for the majority of new registrants in the latest phase of voter registration, must also be given a fair and meaningful opportunity to contribute to the leadership of the country.