A post-primary audit of political parties ahead of the 2027 general elections has found that loopholes in the Electoral Act, costly nomination forms, consensus arrangements and money politics are limiting women’s participation and chances of emerging as candidates.
Gender rights advocates and electoral experts disclosed on Wednesday during a media briefing held via X Space, where they presented findings from an audit of internal party elections.
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Cynthia Mbamalu, a gender and human rights advocate, said the Electoral Act 2026, which limits party primaries to direct and consensus modes, failed to provide clear guidelines for direct primaries.
Ms Mbamalu said Section 86 of the Act left the design of guidelines to political parties, creating wide discretion that weakened transparency.
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“Ordinarily, direct primaries should have been a saving grace for marginalised groups, especially women, but the way parties implemented them closed the space,” she said.
Ms Mbamalu, who is also the Director of Programmes at Yiaga Africa, said weak regulation allowed parties to manipulate membership registers and screening processes, which she described as the first stage of exclusion.
She added that screening processes were hostile to women and aspirants not favoured by party structures, forcing some to step down or contest manipulated outcomes.
She also cited high nomination fees and the influence of governors, particularly in the All Progressives Congress (APC), as major obstacles to women’s emergence, noting that even discounted fees did not guarantee inclusion.
Ms Mbamalu called for the review of disputed primaries and the reinstatement of women who were allegedly forced out despite winning legitimate processes.
‘Institutionalised gatekeeping’
Also speaking during the webinar, Toun Sonaiya, Executive Director of Voice of Women Empowerment Foundation, accused political parties of institutionalising exclusion through consensus arrangements and opaque candidate selection processes.
Representing a coalition of women-led organisations, including the Voice of Women Empowerment Foundation, Women in Politics Forum, Gender Strategy Advancement International and the Ene Obi Centre for Development, she said women who met all party requirements were frequently pressured to step down or replaced through backdoor arrangements.
Ms Sonaiya said women make up 49.5 per cent of Nigeria’s over 200 million population but hold less than 4 per cent of National Assembly seats, 4.7 per cent of state assembly seats, and no governorship positions, adding that women are absent in 14 state houses of assembly.
She noted that despite Nigeria’s commitments under the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), the Beijing Platform for Action, the Maputo Protocol, the African Union Solemn Declaration on Gender Equality in Africa, and United Nations Security Council Resolution 1325 (UNSCR 1325), implementation remains weak.
Women’s representation since 1999
Presenting historical data on women’s political participation, Bukola Shonibare of Invictus Africa said female representation in elections has remained consistently low since 1999.
Ms Shonibare said the highest share of female presidential candidates was 8.2 per cent in 2019, while 2023 recorded the lowest at 5.6 per cent.
For Senate races, the highest was 16.7 per cent in 2015 and the lowest was 7.4 per cent in 2007. Data for 1999 and 2003 were unavailable.
Ms Shonibare said only three parties currently have above 20 per cent female aspirants; the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) at 28.2 per cent, Youth Progressive Party (YPP) at 22.7 per cent, and Youth Party (YP) at 20 per cent.
The lowest are the National Rescue Movement (11.8 per cent), APC (10.4 per cent) and the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP), which recorded no female aspirants.
She added that the APC had 2,008 aspirants (1,799 men and 209 women), while the PDP had 1,271 aspirants (913 men and 358 women).
Warning of decline
Austin Aigbe, a gender equity advocate, said the figures would “definitely nosedive,” warning that low female representation is becoming entrenched in Nigeria’s political system.
Mr Aigbe said the problem could only be addressed through legislation, not training or advocacy alone.
He also criticised what he described as tokenism by parties, citing fee discounts and waivers that are often reversed during consensus arrangements, leaving women excluded from final candidate lists.
Charter of demands
The coalition called on political parties and state governors to publish gender-disaggregated data on women who purchased forms, screened, stepped down, and were excluded through consensus, or emerged as candidates.
They also demanded an end to backdoor exclusions, adoption of binding inclusion policies, and nomination of female deputy governorship candidates alongside male candidates.
The group urged the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to strengthen oversight of party primaries and ensure compliance with constitutional principles of fairness.
They also called on President Bola Tinubu to support the passage of a special seats bill for women in the National Assembly, noting that it is a democratic correction, not charity.
Women’s representation
Women’s representation in Nigeria’s public offices ranks low. Of the 360 members in the House of Representatives, only 17 are women, while in the Senate, there are just four women out of 109 members.
Efforts to increase women’s participation in elective offices have continued over the years, but progress has remained limited.
Ahead of successive election cycles, political parties, civil society groups and lawmakers have proposed reforms aimed at improving women’s representation. However, many of these initiatives have faced legislative hurdles or failed to secure the political support needed for implementation.
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One of the latest efforts is the Reserved Seats for Women Bill, sponsored by the Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Benjamin Kalu, alongside 12 other lawmakers.
The bill seeks to address Nigeria’s persistent gender imbalance in elective offices by creating additional seats for women in the National Assembly and state Houses of Assembly.
If passed, it would represent one of the most significant legislative interventions to improve women’s political representation in the country’s democratic history.
However, the proposal is yet to secure final approval, leaving uncertainty over whether it will be in place ahead of future elections.
