Politics

Women In Politics: Removing All The Barriers

Published

15 years ago

March 29, 2010

This is a paper presented by Deborah Effiong at a workshop for “Women in Politics” in Port Harcourt, the Rivers State capital.

Women’s participation in politics has been identified as a key strategy to accelerate development and empowerment in any country or region. It is therefore not a surprise that the last decade has witnessed various attempts by different countries around the world to tackle the under representation of women in politics.

Women’s participation in politics involves a wide range of actions and strategies which include voter and civic education, lobbying and negotiation skills, media engagements, violence management, leadership training, fundraising and public life skills training.

Prior to now, the role of women in politics was often that of praise- singers, fundraisers, party supporters and mobilisers. The unfavourable political terrain characterised by thuggery, money politics and entrenched patriarchial attitudes have served as a basis for discouragement of many women from participating in politics.

Party programmes and manifestos do not articulate women’s issues, rather women’s wing in political parties are crated without constitutional backing. It is expected that as the political space is getting liberalised due to sensitisation and awareness of female candidature, women’s issues will be given constitutional support by the various political parties.

Women’s political and electoral experiences from 1999 – till date

Research has shown that from 1999 till date women’s political experiences have been distressing. At all levels of Nigeria’s three tiers of government (Executive, Legislature, Judiciary) the issue of women marginalisation and discrimination have continued to persist. In many situations portfolios given to women often reflect the conservative definitions of women’s roles in society. Women are often assigned to Ministry of Women Affairs, Information, Culture/Tourism and Education, none of which can be described as very strategic ministries in terms of their level of influence within the government.

Women’s electoral experiences are nothing different and in many cases wose off. Records show that in 1999 in the South-South 2 women were elected into the Federal House and the entire South-South no woman won elections into the state Houses of assemblies.

2003 – Federal House – 5, House of Assembly (South – South) – 4

2007 – Federal House – 3, House of Assembly (South – South) – 15

The implication of these figures is that women have less than 30% of the seats going by the 1995 Beijing Declaration which states that women should occupy at least 30% elective and appointive positions.

The situation is not different at the Local Government Council elections. Feedback from female aspirants and candidates after previous elections revealed a situation where women have become victims of structural and cultural limitations. Women narrated that the politics of money and godfatherism excluded and deprived them of their fundamental human rights of voting and to be voted for.

Women also asserted that lack of adequate mechanisms to monitor electoral outcomes and protect women’s mandate formed part of the major challenges for women in securing victory at the polls.

At the level of the United Nations there is a growing women’s global activism for increased representation of women in politics. The assessment made by United Nations Development Project (UNDP) at the last Beijing +10 review it was reported that women are still greatly under represented in political positions around the world.

To participate in the political process, women need to enjoy the full exercise of their civil and political rights. The achievement of equality between men and women is an integral part of the process leading to a genuine democracy.

Recommendations

It is clear that some of the barriers which women face in connection with their participation and gender balanced representation in political and public life are due to the structure and functioning of electoral systems and political institutions, mainly political parties. It is therefore recommended that;

*There should be urgent reforms in our electoral and political institutions aimed at promoting and supporting special measures to empower women to participate in politics.

*Government should promote public campaigns with targeted messages to raise public awareness on the importance of a gender balanced representation in decision making.

* Government should ensure the domestication of CEDAW into our legal system.

* Political parties should adopt and promote a gender balance policy within the party and the party’s structures.

* Political parties should review their selection and nomination procedures in order to remove all barriers that directly or indirectly discriminate against it.

In conclusion, International instruments such as the Beijing Platform for Action, CEDAW, Optional Protocol and the National Gender Policy should be maximised and strategies to implement them such as advocacy, policy reforms, special measures and affirmative actions should be explored.

Deborah Effiong is of the Gender and Development Action (GADA), Rivers State Ministry of Women Affairs.

Deborah Effiong

Politics

INEC Denies Registering New Political Parties

Published

2 days ago

June 20, 2025

The Tide

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) says it has not registered any new political parties.

The commission gave the clarification in a statement on its X (formerly Twitter) handle last Wednesday.

It described the purported report circulated by some online social media platforms on the registration of two new political parties by INEC as fake.

“The attention of INEC has been drawn to a fake report making the rounds about the registration of two new political parties, namely “Independent Democrats (ID)” and “Peoples Democratic Movement (PDM)”.

“For the avoidance of doubt, the commission has not yet registered any new party. The current number of registered political parties in Nigeria is 19 and nothing has been added,” it stated.

The commission recalled that both ID and PDM were registered as political parties in August 2013.

INEC further recalled that the two were deregistered in February 2020 in accordance with Section 225A of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

The commission, therefore, urged the public to disregard the said report.

Politics

You Weren’t Elected To Bury People, Tinubu Tells Alia

Published

2 days ago

June 20, 2025

The Tide

President Bola Tinubu has asked Governor Hyacinth Alia to work more for peace and development of Benue State, saying he was elected to govern, not to bury people.

The President said this while addressing stakeholders at the Government House, Markudi, last Wednesday.

He also called on the governor to set up a peace committee to address some of the issues in the state.

The meeting included the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), George Akume, traditional rulers, and former governors of the state.

The governors of Kwara, Imo, Kogi, Plateau, Ondo, and Nasarawa states also attended the meeting.

“Let us meet again in Abuja. Let’s fashion out a framework for lasting peace. I am ready to invest in that peace. I assure you, we will find peace. We will convert this tragedy into prosperity,” he said.

President Tinubu urged Governor Alia to allocate land for ranching and directed the Minister of Agriculture and Food Security to follow up.

“I wanted to come here to commission projects, to reassure you of hope and prosperity, not to see gloomy faces. But peace is vital to development.

“The value of human life is greater than that of a cow. We were elected to govern, not to bury people”, he stressed.

He charged Governor Alia on working with the Federal Government to restore peace.

“Governor Alia, you were elected under the progressive banner to ensure peace, stability, and progress. You are not elected to bury people or comfort widows and orphans. We will work with you to achieve that peace. You must also work with us”, he said.

In his remarks, Governor Alia appealed to the Federal Government to establish a Special Intervention Fund for communities affected by repeated violent attacks across the state.

“Your Excellency, while we continue to mourn our losses and rebuild from the ashes of pain, we humbly urge the Federal Government to consider establishing a special intervention fund for communities affected by these incessant attacks in Benue State,” he said.

Governor Alia said the fund would support the rehabilitation of displaced persons, reconstruction of destroyed homes and infrastructure, and the restoration of livelihoods, especially for farmers.

He reiterated his support for establishing state police as a lasting solution to insecurity.

The governor pledged his administration’s full commitment to building a safe, stable, prosperous Benue State.

Also speaking at the meeting, the Chairman of the Benue State Traditional Rulers Council, Tor Tiv, Orchivirigh, Prof. James Ayatse, praised President Tinubu for being the first sitting President to personally visit victims in the hospital in the wake of such a tragedy.

He thanked the President for appointing notable Benue indigenes into key positions, including the Secretary to the Government of the Federation and the Minister of Water Resources and Sanitation, Professor Joseph Utsev, while expressing hope that more appointments would follow.

Politics

Gowon Explains Why Aburi Accord Failed

Published

2 days ago

June 20, 2025

The Tide

Former Head of State, Gen. Yakubu Gowon (ret’d), says the Aburi accord collapsed because Chukwuemeka Ojukwu wanted regional governors to control military zones.

Gen. Gowon was Nigeria’s military ruler from 1966 until 1975 when he was deposed in a bloodless coup while Ojukwu was military governor of the then Eastern Region in that span.

In a live television interview recently, Gen. Gowon narrated what transpired after the agreement was reached in Aburi, a town in Ghana.

The meeting that led to the accord took place from January 4 to 5, 1967, with delegates from both sides of the divide making inputs.

The goal was to resolve the political impasse threatening the country’s unity.

The point of the agreement was that each region should be responsible for its own affairs.

During the meeting, delegates arrived at certain resolutions on control and structure of the military. However, the exact agreement reached was the subject of controversy.

The failure of the Aburi accord culminated in Nigeria’s civil war, which lasted from July 6, 1967, to January 15, 1970.

Speaking on what transpired after the agreement, Gen. Gowon said the resolutions should have been discussed further and finalised.

The ex-military leader said he took ill after arriving in Nigeria from Aburi and that Ojukwu went on to make unauthorised statements about the accord.

Gen. Gowon said he did not know where Ojukwu got his version of the agreement from.

“We just went there (Aburi), as far as we were concerned, to meet as officers and then agree to get back home and resolve the problem at home. That was my understanding. But that was not his (Ojukwu) understanding,” he said.

Gen. Gowon said Ojukwu declined the invitation, citing safety concerns.

“I don’t know what accord he (Ojukwu) was reading because he came to the meeting with prepared papers of things he wanted. And, of course, we discussed them one by one, greed on some and disagreed on some.

“For example, to give one of the major issues, we said that the military would be zoned, but the control… He wanted those zones to be commanded by the governor.

“When you have a military zone in the north, it would be commanded by the governor of the military in the north, the military zone in the east would be commanded by him. Of course, we did not agree with that one”, Gen. Gowon added.

Ojukwu died on November 26, 2011 at the age of 78.