Only 86 of 1534 elective positions occupied by women in Nigeria – FIDA cries out


The Country Vice President/National President of FIDA Nigeria Amina Agbaje, has expressed worry over what she described as, “an abysmal low rate of women’s participation in formal decision making.”
She said women represent only 5.6 percent (86 out of 1534) of all elective positions at both the national and subnational levels are occupied by women. 

Agbaje stated this Monday in Abuja, at a methodology workshop to review a Violence Against Women (VAW) survey tool and presentation of the 2022 osun governorship report.

She expressed worry that inspite of all progresses recorded in ensuring women’s visibility at decision tables, their participation in the elective positions has been minimal, adding that this has multi-dimensional implications for the democratic project in Nigeria and for the continuing quest for gender equality in Africa’s biggest economy. 

She noted that the 2023 elections which is the seventh consecutive general elections since the beginning of the fourth republic in 1999, marks an undoubtedly measure of democratic progress, if only for conducting periodic elections since the return to civil rule. 

She however said what remains deeply in doubt, is how inclusive this progress has been and, in particular, to what extent women have benefited from the democratic dividend of equality and fairness. 

“According to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Nigerian women signaled their intention to make their voices heard in the 2019 election, accounting for about 47.14 per cent (39,598,645 million) of the 84,004.084 million registered voters nationwide.

“Comparatively In 2015, three million, six hundred and sixty-seven thousand, and seventy-six (3,667,076) housewives voted in the presidential election, placing next to students (4,480,708) and civil servants (4,628,433). 

“Similarly, housewives rank third on the list of registered voters by group in the last 2019 election. They represented 14.10 per cent of the total registered voters by group, next to farmers/fishers (16.23 per cent) and students (26.57 per cent),” she noted.

She therefore called  for the  eradication of political violence, stressing that it is of paramount importance to condense political violence before and after elections so that women can fully participate in elections. 

In her goodwill message,  the Minister or Women Affairs who was represented at the workshop stated that women’s political participation is key to their advancement, urging all relevant stakeholders to ensure that come 2023 and beyond, women’s voices in governance,  leadership and decision making processes in Nigeria are enhanced.

She stressed the need for security agencies to be strengthened to effectively handle Violence Against Women in Elections (VAWiE) cases.

“The security agencies should go all out to protect everyone either male or female. Their job descriptions and limits should also be given to them as they are recruited into various security agencies.

“An anti-VAWiE policies backed by strong political will should be formed. Also voter education will go a long way in creating the right Civic awareness in the citizenry especially the women,” she said.