Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, has said that the poor showing of women in Nigerian elections is largely due to the lack of support they receive from fellow women.
Akpabio made the remark on Tuesday, October 28, when he hosted a delegation from the European Union Parliament’s Foreign Affairs Committee, led by Mr. David McAllister, at the National Assembly in Abuja.
“Women often vote for male candidates, making it difficult for female candidates to win elections,” he stated.
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He expressed concern over the deep-rooted gender imbalance in Nigeria’s politics, noting that despite women making up nearly half of the voting population, their representation in the National Assembly remains among the lowest in Africa.
Currently, only four out of 109 senators and 17 of the 360 members of the House of Representatives are women, a figure that has barely improved in the last twenty years.
The Senate President assured the delegation that the National Assembly was working toward “innovative solutions, including constitutional amendments,” to improve women’s political participation and representation, in partnership with advocacy organisations such as the Black Women’s Forum.