According to a source, there are only three women among the 51 candidates running for governor of the states of Kogi, Imo, and Bayelsa.
The 2023 Off-cycle Elections: Evaluating Gender Representation Before the Vote report was released by ElectHER, a civil society organization.
Off-cycle elections are slated for Saturday, November 11, in the states of Imo, Bayelsa, and Kogi.
According to the report, only three women are among the 51 candidates running in the off-cycle elections in Bayelsa, Imo, and Kogi.
The undervaluation of women’s political participation is pervasive and can be mainly attributed to a lack of understanding of the opportunity cost of having more women in positions of decision-making.
“In addition, although CSOs and development partners are working together to promote women’s participation at the federal level, there is not much focus on the sub-national levels.”
Ibijoke Faborode, the founder and CEO of ElectHER, stated that women’s engagement in politics and governance has to be given “better consideration” during a news conference on Tuesday regarding the upcoming off-cycle elections in Abuja.
According to Faborode, “surface” discussions about women’s involvement in politics are insufficient in the discourse.
She declared, “More thought has to go into making sure that women are encouraged to run for office. The number of female candidates is one piece of information that we were unable to obtain despite our best attempts.
“Leaders are created by elections. The degree to which we can advance as a nation is constrained when there aren’t enough women competing at this level.
“The number of stakeholders who take women’s participation in politics seriously is decreasing as we have more superficial conversations about it.”
