The Women in Parliament has identified stigmatisation, financing and lack of economic empowerment as part of the reason why women’s participation in politics is at low ebb.
Its committee chairperson, Taiwo Oluga named other reasons as political violence; cultural as well as religious barriers are part of the bottlenecks that have continued to hold women down.
Oluga spoke at a briefing in conjunction with the European Union Support to Democratic Governance in Nigeria (EU SDGN) in Abuja.
She stated that despite the advocacy and attempt by women groups to increase women’s participation in politics, not much progress seems to have been made.
She explained that out of 1,101 candidates contesting for 109 seats in the House of Representatives, only 92 women are contesting.