The Gender Strategy Advancement International (GSAI) has strongly criticized what it describes as the structural and deliberate exclusion of women from the ongoing primary elections of political parties across Nigeria in preparation for the 2027 general elections.
Call for Sanctions Against Non-Compliant Parties
Adaora Sydney-Jack, Executive Director of GSAI, speaking to journalists in Abuja, demanded sanctions against political parties that fail to meet affirmative action targets for women. She emphasized that Nigeria's democracy cannot flourish while women remain systematically sidelined from candidate emergence and party decision-making processes.
“There should be enforceable accountability mechanisms. Democracy cannot rely solely on moral persuasion. Possible sanctions or incentives could include reduced public funding access, mandatory quota compliance, incentives for gender-balanced tickets, or electoral penalties for persistent exclusion. Several democracies already implement such measures,” she stated.
Barriers Faced by Women in Primaries
Sydney-Jack noted that despite women constituting nearly half of Nigeria's population and electoral strength, they continue to face significant barriers during party primaries. These include exorbitant nomination fees, political intimidation, monetized delegate systems, and exclusion from critical negotiations where candidacies are determined.
“The troubling reality is that the recent primaries currently ongoing across parts of Nigeria have shown little or no meaningful shift from the entrenched norm. Across multiple political spaces, women continue to report being sidelined, pressured to step down for male aspirants, excluded from strategic negotiations, or subtly threatened with political ostracization should they insist on contesting,” she explained.
Systemic Exclusion and Institutional Reforms Needed
According to her, political parties have treated inclusion as campaign rhetoric while resisting genuine reforms capable of guaranteeing women equitable access to political leadership. She highlighted that women participate massively as mobilizers, campaigners, financiers at grassroots levels, and voting blocs. However, when candidacy and power-sharing emerge, women are relegated to ceremonial positions, often reduced to “Women Leader” structures without consequential influence over delegate selection, zoning, financing, or ticket allocation.
Sydney-Jack argued that the exclusion of women from party primaries is not accidental but deeply institutional, sustained through opaque consensus arrangements, elite patronage networks, and patriarchal power structures within party systems. “These realities create a democratic bottleneck that excludes women before the general election even begins,” she said.
International Examples and Urgent Reforms
She noted that countries such as Rwanda, Senegal, Namibia, and South Africa have significantly improved women's political representation through intentional reforms, including constitutional quotas, parity laws, and gender-balanced candidate systems. Sydney-Jack warned that Nigeria risks economic and democratic stagnation if political parties fail to undertake reforms that promote inclusive participation, adding that women's exclusion weakens governance, accountability, and national development.
She urged the National Assembly, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), and political parties to institutionalize enforceable quota systems and ensure transparent primary processes ahead of the 2027 elections.
Practical Reforms for Inclusive Primaries
On practical reforms that parties can implement immediately, she suggested several achievable measures:
- Financial Reforms: Free or heavily subsidized nomination forms for women, public campaign financing support mechanisms, and gender equity political funds.
- Institutional Reforms: Reserved delegate slots for women, mandatory quota systems within party executives, and transparent digital delegate accreditation.
- Security Reforms: Zero tolerance for violence and intimidation during primaries.
She concluded that Nigeria's political parties possess the institutional capacity to undertake such reforms.
