2027 Elections: Gender Advocates Demand More Media Coverage for Women Candidates
- Four civil society groups held a press conference in Abuja on Thursday, citing structural barriers that continue to limit women's chances in the 2027 elections
- Only 443 of 4,408 cleared candidates for Senate and House of Representatives seats are women, representing just 10.1 per cent of the total
- Advocates flagged rising nomination costs, electoral violence, party gatekeeping and inadequate media visibility as key obstacles facing female candidates
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Abuja, FCT - Four civil society organisations have called on Nigerian media outlets to give women contesting the 2027 general elections more deliberate and substantive coverage, warning that structural barriers continue to shut women out of competitive political space.
Gender Strategy Advancement International (GSAI), Partners West Africa Nigeria (PWAN), Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre (CISLAC) and Peering Advocacy and Advancement Centre in Africa (PAACA) made the call at a joint press conference held in Abuja on Thursday, July 24, 2026. The event was themed "Beyond Participation: Amplifying Women Candidates, Advancing Political Leadership and Building an Inclusive Nigeria for 2027."
Source: UGC
The groups disclosed that only 443 women were among the 4,408 candidates cleared to contest the 469 Senate and House of Representatives seats, accounting for 10.1 per cent of the total. Of those, 115 are contesting the 109 Senate seats and 328 are contesting the 360 House of Representatives seats. While the figure is higher than the 380 women who ran in 2023, the groups said the improvement was not enough. Four states, Jigawa, Nasarawa, Niger and Yobe, have no female senatorial candidate at all, while Akwa Ibom recorded the highest with 10.
Barriers Beyond the Ballot
GSAI Executive Director Adaora Sydney-Jack said the data exposed deep systemic problems.
"The question before Nigeria is not whether women are prepared to lead. The question is whether our political systems are creating equitable pathways for women to compete, be visible, and succeed," she said.
She called for reserved legislative seats, describing them as an inclusion mechanism rather than a substitute for open competition, and urged media organisations to profile women candidates on the basis of their policies, governance records and leadership ideas rather than their rarity.
PWAN Executive Director Kemi Okenyodo drew attention to electoral violence and intimidation as additional deterrents, noting that some states had already reflected the problem at the sub-national level. She said Katsina had no woman on its State House of Assembly ballot and Adamawa had only one. Okenyodo also pressed for scrutiny of political parties over reports that female aspirants were pressured to withdraw from contests.
"So, is it a case of there is a party position on not fielding women? That we need to interrogate closely. And if it is a party position, then we need to ask them why," she said.
Money, Violence and Party Gatekeeping
CISLAC Country Director Auwal Rafsanjani said the cost of securing a party ticket remained one of the biggest obstacles, arguing that women were disproportionately disadvantaged by money politics at the nomination stage.
"The battle for credible elections must begin with political party nominations," he said.
PAACA Executive Director Ezenwa Nwagwu urged civil society to stop treating women's political inclusion as a short-term campaign and to direct stronger pressure at political parties and their candidate-selection processes. One of the speakers, Mrs Chizoba Ogbeche, encouraged women to use social media to build political profiles and to remain consistent in their engagement even after losing primaries or elections.
Women Contesting for Senate Seats in 2027
Earlier, Legit.ng reported that Nigeria's 2027 senatorial race will feature at least 1,303 candidates competing for 109 seats in the upper chamber, but women account for just 123 of those aspirants, according to the final list released by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
The figures reveal a significant gender gap in the senatorial contest, with female candidates representing a fraction of the total field. Women on the list are spread across multiple political parties, including the All Progressives Congress, the Peoples Democratic Party, the African Democratic Congress, and the Nigeria Democratic Congress, among others. R
Source: Legit.ng
