In a renewed call for gender parity in governance, top female politicians and stakeholders on Wednesday urged Nigeria’s political class to institutionalize a 50 per cent representation for women in public office.
The demand was made during a two-day Conference of Political Women Leaders held in Abuja, organised by the National Institute of Policy and Strategic Studies (NIPSS) in partnership with the Inter-Party Advisory Council (IPAC).
Among those leading the charge were the Minister of Women Affairs, Imaan Sulaiman-Ibrahim, Senator Ireti Kingibe (FCT), and the Deputy National Women Leader of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and IPAC Deputy National Secretary, Zainab Ibrahim, alongside other political stakeholders.
A key proposal discussed at the conference was the adoption of a “twinning formula”—a policy that would ensure that for every elected male in public office, a woman would automatically be appointed as deputy, and vice versa.
Speaking on the strategy, Zainab Ibrahim noted, “What if every political party adopts the twinning method? For instance, if my party, the APC, with 21 governors, adopted this formula, we would have 21 women deputy governors. That’s 50-50. If the PDP with 11 governors did the same, the ripple effect would be enormous.”
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She emphasized that such a policy shift doesn’t require constitutional amendments or prolonged legislative processes but could begin immediately as a party decision. “Let charity begin at home,” she urged.
Minister Imaan Sulaiman-Ibrahim echoed this sentiment, describing the underrepresentation of women in governance as a glaring national setback.
“With a population of over 200 million, Nigeria is still far behind its peers globally in terms of female political inclusion,” she said. “This must become a part of our political philosophy. Women must be given tickets, held in strategic party positions, and supported to succeed.”
She tasked political parties and IPAC in particular with leading the change, declaring, “Inclusive politics is not a favour to women — it is a democratic duty and a catalyst for national development.”
Senator Ireti Kingibe brought the reality into sharp focus, decrying the negligible 4.2% representation of women in the National Assembly. “We currently have just 17 women in the 360-member House of Representatives, and only four female senators out of 109,” she said. “That statistic places Nigeria among the bottom five countries globally for female parliamentary representation.”
She stressed the need for legislative backing for any policy shift, urging the National Assembly to revisit and prioritise the Gender Bill.
The Director-General of NIPSS, Prof. Ayo Omotayo, lauded the initiative and emphasized the broader implications of the gender gap in politics.
“This deficit is more than a gender equity issue,” he noted. “It undermines the inclusiveness and effectiveness of our democracy. When half the population is absent from leadership, national development is compromised.”
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