Nigeria: Brussels Conference - Assessment of Women in Politics

23 October 2008

The Women's Rights Advancement and Protection Alternative (WRAPA) as the NGO charged with the implementation of the African Women Leaders Project in Nigeria, prepared a Country Report which was presented at the Brussels Conference. The outcome of the 2007 elections showed that women have attained 7 per cent representation in the National Assembly through personal and collective struggles and limited legal frame work. Out of 109 Senate seats, only 9 women were elected, the House of Representatives has 28 women elected out of 360 members and the State Houses of Assembly have 42 women members out OF 1990.

The report identified the barriers faced by women politicians in Nigeria. They include economic barriers due to limited resources available to women, which makes it difficult for them to compete with men. Traditional and religious barriers have a considerable impact, with men manipulating religious texts to frustrate the aspirations of qualified women politicians. The political parties and the electoral systems also hamper women's political participation. Only 40 percent of the country's 50 registered political parties have statements that commit them to affirmative action and all of them lack the mechanism for implementation. As for the electoral systems, neither the Constitution nor the Electoral Act have particular provisions such as affirmative action that would assist to increase the number of women in politics.

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