The underrepresentation of women in Nigeria’s political landscape has been a concern for years, particularly since they make up almost half of the country’s population. Prior to the 2023 general election, there was hope among stakeholders that there would be a significant increase in female representation in the National Assembly. However, the results announced so far by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) indicate continued stagnation.
Out of the 423 National Assembly seats declared by INEC, only 15 are held by women. This means that women represent only 3.5 percent of the newly elected legislators, while men hold the remaining 96.5 percent. Although there are 469 legislative seats in the National Assembly, INEC declared winners for only 423 seats, with supplementary elections expected in 46 constituencies.
So far, the only women who have won Senate seats are Ipalibo Banigo, the deputy governor of Rivers state, and Kingibe Ireti of the Labour Party (LP). Women who were elected into the House of Representatives include Orogbu Obiageli (Awka North/Awka South federal constituency), Nnabuife Chinwe Clara (Orumba North/Orumba South federal constituency), Gwacham Mauren Chinwe (Oyi/Ayamelum federal constituency), Ebikake Marie Enenimiete (Brass/Nembe federal constituency), Akume Regina (Gboko/Tarka federal constituency), Onuh Onyeche Blessing (Otukpo/Ohimini federal constituency), and Zainab Gimba (Bama/Ngala/Kala-Balge federal constituency). The others are Ibori-Suenu Erhiatake (Ethiope East/Ethiope West federal constituency), Onuoha Miriam Odinaka (Isiala Mbano/Okigwe/Onuimo federal constituency), Beni Butmak Lar (Langtang North/Langtang South federal constituency), Goodhead Boma (Akuku Toru/Asari Toru federal constituency), Khadija Bukar Abba Ibrahim (Damaturu/Gujuba/Gulani/Tarmuwa federal constituency), and Fatima Talba (Nangere/Potiskum federal constituency).
According to INEC, a total of 1,101 candidates contested for senatorial seats, while 3,122 vied for House of Representatives seats. The commission’s gender distribution breakdown revealed that 3,840 men ran for National Assembly seats (1,008 for the Senate and 2,832 for the House of Representatives), while 380 women contested (92 for the Senate and 288 for the House of Representatives). In total, only nine percent of the over 4,000 National Assembly candidates were women.
Based on INEC’s declarations so far, only 3.9 percent of the 380 women who contested for National Assembly seats were elected. In the 2019 election, 235 women ran for Senate seats, but only seven (6.42 percent) were elected. In the House of Representatives, 533 women contested, but only 11 (3.05 percent) were elected.