The President of the League of Women Voters of Nigeria, Irene Awunah-Ikwegh has raised concerns over what she describes as persistent structural barriers limiting women’s participation in Nigerian politics.
Speaking in an interview with ARISE NEWS on Monday, she alleged that women continue to face exclusion despite reforms aimed at improving inclusivity.
“It is a systematic exclusion that has existed for years. Fortunately, the Electoral Act excluded delegates from the primaries, which was one of our worries. This should be an opportunity for women to test their popularity at the grassroots, but that opportunity is being marred by systematic barriers,” she lamented.
Awunah-Ikwegh called for deliberate efforts to ensure women are not sidelined, stressing the need for a fair and level playing field in political contests across the country.
“We want transparency—we want to see the criteria and the ‘yardstick’ used for these disqualifications. We want women to be able to run without bias regarding how much they spend,” she stressed.
Awunah-Ikwegh further expressed concern that despite sustained advocacy and engagement with political stakeholders ahead of the 2027 elections, women are increasingly losing ground within party structures.
“Since the beginning of last year, we have been working to encourage women to run and pushing for the Special Seats Bill. We have mobilized Nigerian women to run and have been working with women currently in the National Assembly. What we have seen so far is that we are losing the ground we already held,” she noted.
According to her, only a handful of states have so far presented female candidates under the APC platform, a development she described as overwhelming given repeated public commitments to gender inclusion.
“While we don’t have final numbers, the ‘casualty rate’ is high. Regarding newcomers, only five states so far have given APC tickets to women. This is particularly concerning because the APC is the ruling party. Just two weeks ago, the President stated that women and youth are very important demographics that should be considered during the primaries,” she reiterated.
Speaking on the broader state of women’s political participation in Nigeria, Awunah-Ikwegh reiterated that the challenges go beyond financial considerations and extend into entrenched party dynamics that continue to limit fair competition.
“Slashing form prices is not new; most parties have done it for years. What is new is including people with disabilities. However, the price of the form is usually less than half of what is spent on the actual campaign. I have actually argued that women should pay for forms so they have the same stakes during negotiations. Sometimes, giving these forms as a ‘gift’ is used to sideline women later,” she explained.
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