By Faith Anisiobi, The Sight News
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has challenged political parties to move beyond verbal commitments and take concrete steps to increase women’s participation and representation in Nigeria’s political leadership ahead of the 2027 General Elections.
The Commission made the call on Wednesday, September 9, 2026, at a strategic engagement with political party leaders, female candidates, civil society organizations, development partners and the media in Abuja.
The engagement was convened to address barriers limiting women’s access to elective positions and promote practical measures to improve their participation in the 2027 elections.
In his opening remarks, INEC Chairman, Prof. Joash Amupitan, represented by National Commissioner, Prof. Rhoda Gumus, said a democracy that mobilizes women as voters but provides limited opportunities for them to emerge as political leaders had yet to fully realize its representative potential.
Prof. Gumus said the issue was not merely about women’s participation in one electoral cycle but concerned the character, inclusiveness and long-term sustainability of Nigeria’s democracy.
She noted that women constituted a significant proportion of Nigeria’s electorate, with 44,414,846 women representing 47.52 per cent of the 93,469,008 registered voters in the 2023 General Election.
According to her, women have maintained a strong presence in the ongoing voter registration exercise for the 2027 elections.
She disclosed that out 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, representing 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,” she said, stressing that women were “not marginal to Nigeria’s electoral population” but constituted a substantial part of the electorate.
However, Gumus lamented that women’s strong presence as voters was not reflected in their representation as candidates and elected officials.
She said only 1,556 of the 15,331 candidates who contested major elective positions in the 2023 elections were women, representing 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 chambers
“A substantial gap appears to exist between women’s participation as voters and their participation as political leaders,” she said.
The INEC National Commissioner urged political parties to provide practical support for female candidates through access to party structures and leadership, campaign platforms, media visibility, fundraising networks, mentoring, political communication, logistics, security and grassroots mobilization.
She also challenged parties to 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,” Gumus said, urging political parties to move “from commitment to action, from aspiration to implementation.”
In a welcome address by the Secretary to the Commission, Dr. Rose Oriaran-Anthony, read by the Director, Gender and Inclusivity Department, Lakunuya Dorothy Bello, INEC said increasing women’s political participation could not be achieved by the Commission or any single institution alone.
She called for collective commitment and sustained action by all stakeholders, particularly political parties, which she described as the principal vehicles through which citizens organize, seek elective office and participate in democratic governance.
According to her, the policies, structures and internal processes of political parties play a critical role in determining who contests and eventually wins elections.
She urged participants to use the engagement to move beyond acknowledging the challenges confronting women and develop practical and achievable commitments.
Presenting the objectives of the engagement on behalf of Bello, Deputy Director, Gender Relations, Mrs. Hembadoon Akaayar, said the meeting was designed to secure concrete commitments from political parties to support female candidates, promote equitable access to campaign resources and opportunities, and increase the visibility of women seeking elective positions.
Other objectives included strengthening protection against violence, intimidation, harassment and discrimination; promoting a supportive political environment for women; sustaining political support for women beyond 2027; and improving 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 monitored and followed up.
Delivering the keynote address, titled, “Strengthening Women’s Political Participation and Representation: Opportunities, Challenges and Strategies for Political Parties Towards the 2027 General Elections,” former INEC Director of Voter Education, Publicity, Gender and Civil Societies Liaison and former Edo State Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, Oluwole Osaze-Uzi, said Nigeria remained behind many countries in the representation of women in elected public offices.
Osaze-Uzi noted that although women constitute roughly half of Nigeria’s population and electorate, they occupy only about five per cent of seats in the National Assembly, while no woman has ever been elected President or Governor in the country.
He noted that three women were on the presidential ballot for the 2027 election cycle, compared with none in 1999.
The former INEC director cited Rwanda, Senegal, Namibia, South Africa, Mozambique and Cape Verde as examples of African countries that had adopted various measures to improve women’s representation.
He said Rwanda had increased female parliamentary representation from less than five per cent in 1994 to nearly 64 per cent, while Senegal introduced a Parity Law in 2010.
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 barriers as major factors limiting women’s participation in Nigerian politics.
He recommended stronger legal frameworks, effective party enforcement mechanisms, dedicated campaign funding for women, mentorship programmes and zero tolerance for intimidation, threats and sexual harassment against female candidates.
He also noted that voluntary quotas could produce significant results where there was sufficient political commitment and will.
The Commission urged political parties to use the engagement to develop concrete and measurable commitments that would give women a fairer opportunity to contest and win elective positions in the 2027 General Elections.
Gumus stressed that women, who constitute almost half of Nigeria’s electorate and accounted for the majority of new registrants in the latest phase of voter registration, should also be given a fair and meaningful opportunity to contribute to the country’s leadership.
