The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has been urged to be transparent and avoid irregularities as electoral umpires.
This was the high point of a communique at South West Regional People’s Public Hearing on the impact of violence and corruption in 2023 elections with the theme ”Gender integrity and accountability.”
The coalition, led by the Women Advocates Research and Documentation Centre (WARDC) in collaboration with Women’s Rights Advancement and Protection Alternative (WRAPA) and supported by the Macarthur Foundation in conjunction with National Coalition on Affirmative Action (NCAA), Women in Politics Forum, GECORN, 100 Women Lobby Group, Gender Technical Unit and Womanifesto, lamented the under-representation of women in politics in elective and appointive positions despite the consistent push for increased representation during a public hearing it organised on the 2023 elections.
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The conference, according to the Program Manager, Women Advocates Research and Documentation Centre (WARDC) Mrs. Mary George- Peluola was aimed at improving transparency and Accountability during and after elections and provide a platform for women and other partners to share their cutting-edge experiences on the Impact of the election on women and other vulnerable groups with a view to re-strategize on gender balance and election integrity
The group observed that at the regional level, Southwest had the lowest turnout of voters.
With cases of late arrival of voting materials and INEC officials, voter suppression, violent attacks on women, which led to deaths in some cases and disenfranchisement of the electorate, the group said the irregularities observed in the last elections underscored the need for a road map for future elections in Nigeria.
Speaking about Women’s role in the last elections and how violence affected them, Executive Director Women For Peace and Gender Equality Initiative Dr Mojisola Akinsanya, said: “Prior to the election, there is a lot of structural barriers, post COVID-19 and recovering from that there is a lot of socio-economic issues which women are battling with.
”Hence, from the beginning, govt failed to address the plight of the people before the election, (the cash crunch, fuel crisis etc) harsh policies, discrimination, ethnic profiling, threats, hate speech intimidation etc. govt. used these weapons to limit a lot of women from participating effectively in the general elections.
”There is a problem with our selection process. Women’s participation is low because we are not adequately represented in the major political parties. The judiciary was also compromised” she said.
“We are demanding for policy framework insisting on a particular number of women to be included, if Liberia and Rwanda is doing it, why should our own be different?”
Coordinator and Founder, Visionspring Initiative, Ngozi Nwosu-Juba, said the general elections saw more women losing their seats, saying that it was a low scorecard for women.
On what women intend to do differently ahead of the 2027 elections, Executive Director, Women’s Rights and Health Projects, Bose Ironsi said: “Moving forward as women, ahead of the next election, there is still going to be high level of advocacy, we’ll mobilise more women, (increase in number) and more of lobbying We are not fighting with our male counterpart, we just want them to understand that women need to be part of governance, we are not discouraged at all.”