Women make up just 10% of national assembly candidates
The Independent National Electoral Commission has published its final lists of candidates for the 2027 National Assembly elections, with women accounting for just 10% of those contesting seats in the two chambers.
An analysis of the commission’s candidate documents shows that 4,408 people will contest the elections: 1,195 for the Senate and 3,213 for the House of Representatives.
Of the total, 3,965 are men and 443 are women, highlighting the substantial gender gap among candidates seeking parliamentary seats.
The Senate list includes 1,080 men and 115 women, while the House of Representatives list comprises 2,885 men and 328 women.
The Allied Peoples Movement (APM) has the highest combined number of female candidates, fielding 11 for the Senate and 42 for the House of Representatives.
According to the commission’s election timetable, presidential and National Assembly elections are scheduled for 16 January 2027. Governorship and state assembly elections will follow on 6 February.
INEC also released its final list of presidential candidates and their running mates on Saturday. The document, signed by the commission’s secretary, Rose Oriaran-Anthony, names candidates from 18 political parties.
They include President Bola Tinubu of the All Progressives Congress, former vice-president Atiku Abubakar of the African Democratic Congress and former Anambra governor Peter Obi of the Nigeria Democratic Congress.
Others are Oyo governor Oluseyi Makinde of the APM, Sandy Ojang Onor of the Peoples Democratic Party and former Cross River governor Donald Duke of the Peoples Redemption Party.
Two women are on the presidential ballot: Ada Elizabeth Frederick Okwori of the National Democratic Party and Nkem Esther Okereke of the National Rescue Movement.
The remaining candidates are Rufai Adekunle Omo-Aje of the Action Alliance, Abbas-Bin Aliyu of the Action Democratic Party, Yusuf Kabiru of the Action Peoples Party and Omoyele Sowore of the African Action Congress.
Also listed are Sunday Adenuga of the Boot Party, Adebisi Olusoji of the Democratic Labour Alliance, Sunday Okereke of the Labour Party, Adewole Adebayo of the Social Democratic Party, Peter Agada of the Young Progressive Party and Nwanyanwu Daberechukwu of the Zenith Labour Party.