The European Centre for Electoral Support (ECES) in collaboration with key stakeholders has advocated for increase participation of women in the continuous voter registration and collection of permanent voter cards.
The stakeholders made the appeal in Abuja on Wednesday during a workshop organised by the ECES with the support of the European Union.
The North-Central zonal workshop was tagged: “Enhancing women’s participation in the continuous voter registration and collection of permanent voter cards: The role of civil society organisations’’.
Mr David Notre, the Country Director, ECES Nigeria, said the workshop was to collate ideas and lessons from similar fora in five geo-political zones of the country.
Notre, represented by Ms Cathy Latiwa, Programme Officer, Gender and Inclusion, ECES, said the ideas collated would be integrated into one national agenda for the advancement of women issues in the political process.
Notre said women constitute about half of the population and an important segment of the population that must be carried along in every facet of development.
He added that women participation enriches democracy and makes it more responsive to the aspiration of people, but their participation in political process has been limited.
“Fewer women than men have been voted into political offices in spite of the fact that majority of the voters are women.
“Nigerian women have the lowest representation of 5.9 per cent in the National Assembly when compared to most other African countries like Uganda with 34.5 per cent, South Africa 43.2 per cent and Cameroon 20.1 per cent,’’ he said.
He said the continuous voter registration provides opportunity for women to participate actively in the political process by ensuring that more women are registered and electing more women into elective positions.
Corroborating the above position, Prof. Antonia Okoosi-Simbine, National Commissioner, Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), said women constitutes 48 per cent of Nigeria’s voting population, but occupy only 5.8 per cent of the political offices in Nigeria.
“In 2015, eight female Senators and 25 House of Representatives members were elected while six female deputy governors who had joint ticket with male gubernatorial candidates were elected.
“Only one female contested for the office of President while four presidential candidates had females as their vice.
“Similarly, contenders for the upcoming Ekiti State governorship elections shows that 10 of the 35 political parties fielding candidates have females as deputy governorship candidates and none of the parties put a female as governorship candidate,’’ she said.
On her part, Mrs Ifeyinwa Omowole, President, National Association of Women Journalists (NAWOJ), renewed the commitment of the association to work with INEC in sensitising women on continuous voter registration exercise.
She noted that it was easier for women to communicate with women, adding that the association has a lot of female journalists at grassroots level.
She added that the association could also sensitise women on benefits of voter registration through one-on-one interaction and other programmes such as ante-natal days, market days and other places where women often gather.
“The truth is that without women there can be no nation and women need to ensure that they drive the electoral process because at the end of the day it is about us and our children,’’ she said. (NAN)

– Jun. 20, 2018 @ 17:12 GMT |