60 Northwest female politicians plan success 2023

Sixty female politicians and civil society representatives from Nigeria’s Northwest region met in Kaduna to plan for the 2027 general elections.

The ladies attended GECORN’s Her People’s Hearing on “The Violence and Conflict in the 2023 General Elections: Gender Integrity and Accountability” in Kaduna.

After the discussion, the ladies bemoaned that Northwest only had two elected women in 2023 because to religion and culture’s manipulation of women.

Religion and culture may have been manipulated against women in politics,

Dr. Lydia Umar, Northwest Coordinator of GECORN, was appalled to read the communiqué given at the end of the one-day hearing that just 1,553 of 15,307 candidates in the 2023 national elections were women, a pitiful 10%.

• She stated, “This hearing was convened to listen to experiences and challenges of women and girls in the just concluded 2023 elections under the project: “Improving Electoral Integrity and Accountability;” to share real-life experiences of women who actively participated not just in campaigns and voting but courageously contested for various positions; to celebrate these women whether they won or not, because the singular bold decision to come out and contest in a democratic election It also identified methods to help women win the 2027 elections.

“23% of Nigerians live in the Northwest, half of whom are women. Women are a powerful voting group since banditry and problems in the region deplete males everyday. The 2023 election yielded only two women—a House of Assembly member and a Deputy Governor.

“It was also resolved that women in the Northwest have come of age and are now ably educated and qualified to take driving seats in the politics and governance of the region; that religion and culture have been manipulated and instrumentalized to keep women out of active politics.