INEC will conduct the presidential election on 25 February while the governorship election will hold two weeks later on 11 March.
Ahead of the 2023 elections, female governorship candidates contesting in 17 states in Nigeria have promised to provide solutions to issues around infrastructure, security, education, and agriculture.
The women spoke on Monday at a media parley organised by the United Nations Women in collaboration with the Government of Canada and Women Radio for the 25 female gubernatorial candidates and a female presidential flag bearer ahead of the 2023 elections.
The candidates are from Benue, Delta, Abia, Lagos, Kwara, Kano, Borno, Jigawa, Akwa Ibom, Zamfara, Rivers Oyo, Nasarawa, Enugu, Ebonyi, Cross River, and Niger states.
Number of candidates in states
Benue has the highest number of female governorship candidates with three women in the race.
This is followed by Lagos, Abia, Delta, Kano, Benue, and Akwa Ibom States with two women in the race while others have one each.
The 2023 gubernatorial election will be held in 28 out of 36 states in Nigeria. The election will be held on 11 March 2023, across these states.
In November, the UN said only 10.1 per cent of the candidates contesting in the 2023 elections are female.
Currently, 4.1 per cent of Nigerian women are active in the parliament. It described it as something unacceptable.
Comparing it to other African countries like Rwanda and Senegal, the global organisation said the representation of women in politics in the country is very low.
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Candidates speak
The presidential candidate of the Allied People's Movement (APM), Ebitie Ndok- Jegede, said her focus as president if elected, will be to address the issues of insecurity and education.
The Social Democratic Candidate (SDP) governorship candidate for Abia State, Ngozika Ogbuneke, said she will focus on digitalizing the education system in her state.
Also, the candidate of the Action Democratic Party (ADP), in Benue State, Roseline Chenge, said men have contributed their part to the growth of the economy in the state.
She pledged to improve security in the North-central state by engaging with various personnel. She added that storage facilities will be provided to reduce food waste and promote food production in the state.
However, for the Action Alliance (AA) candidate in Jigawa State, Binta Umar, getting the attention of her people remains a bottleneck in the campaign.
