Nigeria's Failure to Elect Women Deemed a Regressive Step

According to the UK's outgoing ambassador, Catriona Laing, the country's recent elections have resulted in a setback for the country's political progress, as the number of elected female representatives has decreased. Laing attributed this to the reluctance of men to share political power with women, which has caused Nigeria to fall behind in terms of global leadership and economic development. As a result, half of Nigeria's population is not being fully utilized to contribute to the country's growth.

Premium Times reports that Nigeria is moving in the wrong direction regarding women's participation in public life, despite global calls for improvement. Since 1999, only 38 women have been elected as senators and 119 as members of the House of Representatives, totalling 157 women out of the 469-member National Assembly. In contrast, 2,657 men have been elected during the same period, with 616 senators and 2,041 representatives.

In March 2022, Nigerian women suffered a backlash in their pursuit of gender equity. Five gender bills presented to the National Assembly were thrown out. The rejection of the bills showed that the assembly wasn't interested in gender parity in politics. It has 469 members - with only 21 of them women.