Female political aspirants in Kwara state and members of a civil society group under the auspices of the Women Political Participation (WPP) program have called for the implementation of 35 per cent affirmative action for female politicians in elective political and appointive public service positions in Nigeria as contained in the extant National Gender Policy (NGP).
The people spoke at a one-day workshop on Strategic Advocacy for Increased Women’s Participation in Politics (SURGE-UP) organized by the Women Environment and Youth Development Initiative (WOYODEV) with support from the International Foundation for Electoral Systems (IFES) and funded by the USAID and UKAID in Ilorin.
Speaking at the event, the Executive Director of WOYODEV, Tosin Apiriola-Ajayi, lamented that Nigeria does not have a specific quota system for women in politics in terms of programmes and policies.
Apiriola-Ajayi, who said that, though, women make up a significant portion of the electorate in Nigeria, added that the country’s political landscape has historically been male-dominated.
“For instance, no female Governors were elected in the 2023 elections, a pattern that has remained constant since the return to democracy in 1999,” she said.
The executive director thus said that the SURGE-UP project aimed to reignite gender-responsive policies
and programmes in Kwara state with the goal of achieving a strong gender quota legislation for women in parliamentary elections and other local elections in the state.
“Also, it aims to increase women’s participation and representation in politics in Kwara state through high-level advocacy for gender-responsive policies and programmes towards the 2027 elections.”
She said that the project aimed to achieve this by building strong partnerships with female and male parliamentarians, party leaders and community gatekeepers with the use of strategic awareness-raising, editorials and public campaigns as veritable tools.
Apiriola-Ajayi also said that objectives include reigniting the political will of parliamentarians in Kwara state to sponsor and facilitate bills and legislations to advocate a strong quota for women in coming elections at national and state levels.
“To foster social movements led by female party stalwarts, parliamentarians and women aspirants for increased advocacy, women’s engagement and massive grassroots mobilization for women politics such that can compete with the male counterparts in the 2027 elections in Kwara state.”
She said that the group expected such results as, “Bills that seek strong quota for women in political offices initiated in state and national assemblies.
“Bills promoting women’s participation in politics and specific financial caps for local and national elections progressed. Sustained stronger and more supportive networks that empower women that are interested in politics and provide them with guidance throughout their political careers established and sustained.
“Increased skills and knowledge of aspiring women politicians, leading to increased participation of women in politics and higher number of women seeking public office.”
The forum agreed that the upcoming Local Government elections is an opportunity to ensure women emerge through party primaries in Kwara State.
The programme was attended by female students in politics, female elective political aspirants, political party representatives, state ministry officials, and gender desk officers of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), among other stakeholders in the state.
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