Former Presidential Aspirant Seeks More Women Participation In Politics

Presidential aspirant in the 2023 general election, Professor Benedicta Egbo, has called for the creation of support networks funded through private and public efforts to enhance the chances of women seeking political offices.

A statement signed by her, in Abuja calls for the urgent, enactment of laws that will guarantee women’s greater participation in politics and democratic governance in the country in the interest of equity, fairness and national unity.

According to the statement, Nigeria is at an important historical juncture, hence achieving its promise as a successful and thriving nation requires that women are given a voice as equal partners in politics and decision-making.

The statement calls for reform-oriented interventions such as removing economic barriers that limit women’s access to resources such as campaign financing, removing cultural impediments, combatting gender-based violence and building women’s capacity through mentorship and political literacy programmes.

According to her, no profound social change and sustainable development in Nigeria can be achieved without the full participation of women in the socio-political arena.

“Transforming the status quo requires the adoption of several innovative interventions including the removal of the structural and systemic barriers that impede women’s political participation”.

It cautions against discriminatory practices against women seeking public offices, stressing that keeping women at the margin of politics, governance and public decision-making is the same as excluding one half of the country’s population from the processes of development and nation-building.

“Furthermore, enacting constructive affirmative action laws that guarantee women a certain number of seats within the country’s parliament and other organs of governance should be a non-negotiable intervention strategy”.

The statement explains that while the number of seats is negotiable, it is not unreasonable to expect that between 30-35% of the seats at both the national and state assemblies should be reserved for women adding that empowerment through quotas is only a starting point.

The statement laments that the current place of women in the country`s political journey remains at the periphery of the country`s political ecosystem despite the momentum gained in the advocacy for the empowerment of women for greater participation in politics and governance in the country.

It highlights that while successive governments have tried to implement policies that were aimed at boosting women’s representation in decision-making, it recorded abysmal failures.

“It is not a secret that previous attempts at passing a gender equality bill at the National Assembly that would have included the much touted 35% quota for women have been unsuccessful,” she states.

“Currently, Nigeria has no substantive legally-binding affirmative action policy vis à vis fair and equitable gender representation in politics. Rather, a cursory review of the information on demographic representation in electoral politics and public decision-making in the country, paints a picture of women’s political exclusion and marginalization even though Nigeria’s 1999 Constitution (as amended) underscores the right of every citizen including women, to full participation in the life of the country.

“The exclusion of women from governance and public decision-making processes is inimical to social progress, adding that many countries are striving, often through quotas, to increase women’s representation in their national parliaments.”

“A relatively recent United Nations report shows that in 2020, about 20% of the world’s heads of state or government were women while 25% of parliamentary seats were held by women.

“Similarly, the proportion of cabinet ministerial positions held by women was 22% while they also constituted 20% of presidents or speakers of parliament.

The statement says Ironically, while women remain grossly underrepresented in politics in Nigeria, five of the top countries in the world with high female parliamentary representation are in Africa as follows: Rwanda (61.3%), Senegal (41.2%), South Africa (44.6), Namibia (32.6%) and Mozambique (39.2 %). Notably, Rwanda has the highest parliamentary representation of women globally.”

PR/Georgina Humphrey