Legislative Seats: CISLAC, WIELD-I Demand Reforms To Increase Women’s Representation

The Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre (CISLAC) has called for enforceable legislative, constitutional and political reforms to address the low representation of women in Nigeria’s political institutions ahead of the 2027 general elections.

Similarly, the Founder and Executive Director of the Women’s Inclusion, Empowerment and Leadership Development Initiative (WIELD-I), Amarachi Evangel Okeke, warned that women remain significantly underrepresented among candidates contesting seats in Nigeria’s National Assembly in the 2027 general elections.

CISLAC and WIELD-I said this while speaking to LEADERSHIP in reaction to the number of female National Assembly candidates ahead of the 2027 election. According to a list released by INEC, only 443 women are among the 4,408 candidates cleared to contest seats in the Senate and House of Representatives.

The figure represents about 10 per cent of the total number of candidates, which highlights the persistent gender imbalance in Nigeria’s political system.

CISLAC Executive Director, Auwal Musa Rafsanjani, told _LEADERSHIP_ that the low representation of women was not a reflection of their willingness to participate in politics but of structural barriers that continue to limit their access to elective office.

Rafsanjani identified high nomination fees, unequal access to political financing, entrenched patronage networks, opaque candidate-selection processes and male-dominated party structures as some of the major obstacles confronting women seeking elective positions.

He said political parties remained the principal gatekeepers to political office, adding that women who were disadvantaged during the nomination process could not be expected to achieve adequate representation after elections.

“When women are systematically excluded at the nomination stage, they cannot suddenly become adequately represented after Election Day,” CISLAC said.

To address the imbalance, the organisation urged political parties to adopt binding and measurable gender targets for nominations, backed by clear sanctions for non-compliance.

It also called for substantial reductions or waivers of nomination fees for women, as well as the publication of gender-disaggregated data on aspirants and candidates.

CISLAC further demanded transparent, competitive and independently monitored party primaries, urging political parties to deliberately field qualified women in viable and winnable constituencies rather than treating female candidates as symbolic participants.

The organisation also called for stronger mechanisms to protect female aspirants from intimidation, harassment and political violence.

It urged political parties to expand women’s access to campaign financing, leadership opportunities and decision-making positions within their structures.

Beyond the political parties, CISLAC called for urgent legislative and constitutional reforms to transform gender inclusion from a policy aspiration into an enforceable obligation.

It urged the National Assembly to revisit affirmative-action measures and reserved-seat proposals that could significantly increase women’s representation in elected institutions.

The organisation also called on the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to strengthen its monitoring and public reporting of political parties’ compliance with their constitutions and stated commitments to gender inclusion.

CISLAC appealed to civil society organisations, the media, development partners and citizens to hold political parties accountable for practices that exclude women from political participation.

Rafsanjani said voluntary commitments by political actors had failed to produce sufficient progress, stressing that measurable targets, institutional accountability and enforceable reforms were now required.

“A democracy that excludes half of its population from the institutions where laws, budgets and national priorities are determined cannot claim to be genuinely inclusive,” he said.

He urged stakeholders to make the 2027 elections a decisive turning point in women’s political participation and move Nigeria beyond tokenism towards meaningful and equitable representation.

CISLAC maintained that greater participation by women in politics was essential to building an inclusive democracy and ensuring that women had a meaningful voice in decisions on legislation, budgets and national priorities.

*Women’s Political Representation Remains Low, WIELD-I Warns*

Founder and Executive Director of the Women’s Inclusion, Empowerment and Leadership Development Initiative (WIELD-I), Amarachi Evangel Okeke, warned that women remain significantly underrepresented among candidates contesting seats in Nigeria’s National Assembly in the 2027 general elections.

Okeke said the release of the candidate list, which shows only 443 women among 4,408 candidates for the Senate and House of Representatives, was a sobering reflection of the state of women’s political inclusion in Nigeria.

With women accounting for only about 10 per cent of the candidates, she said the figures raised fundamental questions about women’s access to political leadership and their participation in decisions shaping the country’s future.

In an exclusive interview with _LEADERSHIP_ yesterday in Abuja, Okeke said the issue went beyond statistics, stressing that it was about inclusion, opportunity, representation and creating a fair pathway for women to contribute their leadership, experience and perspectives to national decision-making.

She said women should not be viewed merely as beneficiaries of government policies but should have meaningful opportunities to participate in shaping and legislating those policies, as well as providing leadership at different levels of government.

According to her, the figures should compel political parties, stakeholders and the wider society to examine the barriers that continue to limit women’s participation in elective politics.

She identified access to party structures and nomination processes, campaign financing, political networks and the broader political environment as areas requiring urgent attention.

Okeke, however, acknowledged and encouraged the women who had stepped forward to contest the 2027 elections, describing their participation as significant.

“Their participation matters. Their courage matters. Their voices matter,” she said.