Kwara Female Political Aspirants Demand Execution Of 35% Affirmative Action

Female political aspirants in Kwara State and members of a civil society group under the auspices of Women Political Participation (WPP) programme have called for implementation of 35 per cent affirmative action for female politicians in elective political and appointive public service positions in Nigeria as contained in the extant National Gender Policy (NGP).

The female aspirants spoke at a one-day workshop on Strategic Advocacy for Increased Women Participation in Politics (SURGE-UP) organised by the Women Environment and Youth Development Initiative (WOYODEV) with support from the International Foundation for Electoral Systems (IFES) and funded by the USAID and UKAID in Ilorin, Kwara State.

The Executive Director of WOYODEV, Tosin Apiriola-Ajayi, lamented that Nigeria does not have a specific quota system for women in politics in terms of programmes and policies.

Apiriola-Ajayi, who said that, though, women make up a significant portion of the electorate in country, added that the country’s political landscape has historically been male -dominated.

“For instance, no female governors were elected in 2023 elections, a pattern that has remained constant since the return to democracy in 1999,” she said.

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She said that the SURGE-UP project aimed to reignite gender-responsive policies and programmes in Kwara State with the goal of achieving a strong gender quota legislation for women in parliamentary elections and other local elections in the state.

“Also, it aims to increase women’s participation and representation in politics in Kwara State through high-level advocacy for gender-responsive policies and programmes towards the 2027 elections,” she added.

She further added that the project aimed to achieve this by building strong partnership with female and male parliamentarians, party leaders and community gatekeepers using strategic awareness-raising, editorials and public campaigns as veritable tools.

Apiriola-Ajayi also said that objectives include reigniting political will of parliamentarians in Kwara State to sponsor and facilitate bills and legislations to advocate a strong quota for women in the coming elections at national and state levels.