Women dominate new voter registration, lag in elective offices — INEC

Commission urges parties to provide greater support for female candidates ahead of 2027

By Omeiza Ajayi

ABUJA — The Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, has raised concerns over the wide gap between women’s participation as voters and their representation in elective offices in Nigeria.

The Commission noted that although women accounted for the majority of new registrants in the third phase of the recently concluded Continuous Voter Registration, CVR, their numerical strength at the polling units had yet to translate into commensurate representation in political leadership.

Chairman of INEC, Prof. Joash Amupitan, stated this on Wednesday at a strategic engagement with political party leaders, female candidates, civil society organisations and development partners in Abuja ahead of the 2027 general elections.

Amupitan, who was represented by National Commissioner, Prof. Rhoda Gumus, disclosed that of the 3,867,997 Nigerians who completed registration in the third phase of the CVR as of July 26, 2026, women accounted for 2,037,589, representing 52.68 per cent, while men accounted for 1,830,408.

Gumus said: “Women therefore accounted for the majority of new registrants in the final phase of the exercise.”

She said the figure was consistent with the pattern recorded during the 2023 general election, when women accounted for 44,414,846 of the 93,469,008 registered voters, representing 47.52 per cent.

According to her, the figures showed that women constituted a substantial part of Nigeria’s electorate.

However, she said the numerical strength had not been reflected in the number of women contesting or winning elective positions.

Citing the 2023 election, Gumus said only 1,556 of the 15,331 candidates across major elective positions 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 seats.

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

Gumus added: “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 urged political parties to provide practical support to female candidates, including access to party structures and leadership, campaign platforms, media visibility, fundraising networks, mentoring, political communication, logistics, security and grassroots mobilisation.

She also challenged parties to examine whether women were being given genuine opportunities to rise through their ranks.

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

In a welcome address delivered on her behalf by the Director, Gender and Inclusivity Department, Lakunuya Dorothy Bello, the Secretary to the Commission, Dr Rose Oriaran-Anthony, said advancing women’s political participation could not be achieved by INEC or any single institution alone.

She called for collective commitment and sustained action by all stakeholders, stressing that political parties, as the principal vehicles through which citizens organise and seek elective office, had a direct responsibility for creating opportunities for women.

According to her, the policies, structures and internal processes of political parties significantly influence who contests and ultimately wins elections.

Delivering the keynote address, titled, “Strengthening Women’s Political Participation and Representation: Opportunities, Challenges and Strategies for Political Parties Towards the 2027 General Elections,” a former INEC Director of Voter Education, Publicity, Gender and Civil Societies Liaison and former Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, Edo State, Oluwole Osaze-Uzi, said Nigeria remained one of the countries lagging behind in women’s representation in elected public offices.

Osaze-Uzi said women constituted roughly half of the country’s population and electorate but occupied only about five per cent of seats in the National Assembly.

He also noted that no woman had ever been elected President or governor in Nigeria.

Tracing the history of female presidential candidacy from 1999, when there was no female presidential candidate, to the 2027 election cycle, where three women are among the 14 presidential candidates, he compared Nigeria’s record with that of other African countries that had made significant progress in women’s political representation.

He cited Rwanda, where female parliamentary representation rose from below five per cent in 1994 to nearly 64 per cent, as well as Senegal’s Parity Law of 2010 and voluntary party quota systems in Namibia, South Africa, Mozambique and Cape Verde.

Osaze-Uzi said 41 of the 54 African countries now operated some form of gender quota.

He identified legal, cultural, security, financial and political-will barriers as some of the factors limiting women’s participation in Nigerian politics.

He recommended stronger legal frameworks, enforcement mechanisms within political parties, dedicated campaign funding for women and mentorship programmes.

He also called for zero tolerance for intimidation, threats and sexual harassment of 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.

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