Meet 48 women who made it to state assemblies

Muhammed from Gashaka constituency won the election on the platform of the All Progressive Congress (APC), while Borinica Alhassan in Bali constituency won the election under the platform of PDP.

Nasarawa

Nasarawa State has one female state lawmakerelect who secured a seat out of the 24 available. Hajara Ibrahim was elected under the APC to represents Nasarawa central constituency.

Plateau

Two female lawmakers in Plateau State won election into the state House of Assembly.

Happiness Akawu won Pengana constituency, while Salomi Tanimu won Pankshin South, alll under the PDP.

Kogi

In Kogi, two women won out of the 25 state assembly seats.

Mrs Comfort Ojoma Nwuchola won on the platform of the APC to represent Ibaji constituency. She was said to be a senior special assistant in the present administration in the state before she won the position.

Also, Mrs Omotayo Adeleye-Ishaya, a member of the APC, won in Ijumu constituency. Kwara

Five females have been elected to the 24 seatassembly in Kwara State.

Rukayat Shittu from Asa Local Government Area was elected to represent Owode/Onire constituency, while Arinola Lawal from Ilorin East Local Government will represent Ilorin East constituency.

Also, Medinat AbdulRaheem from Moro Local Government Area, was elected to represent Lanwa/ Ejidongari constituency.

Aishat Babatunde-Alanamu won for Ilorin North-West constituency, while Mariam Aladi won for Ilorin South constituency.

Speaking on her election, a female lawmaker, Rukayat Shittu, said she could not afford to disappoint her constituency.

“I don’t have to be the best in my constituency, but I should be wise enough to bring together the most qualified people to work with. I will be guided by four cardinal responsibilities of a lawmaker: representation, legislative advancement, executive oversight and constituency outreach, although the last one is not a core responsibility for the legislative arm,” she said.

Akwa Ibom

Out of the 26-member assembly in the state, four women have secured seats.

Those that won include Selong Precious Akamba for Urua Offong Oruko constituency; Etim Itorobong Francis for Uruan; Onofiok Kenim Victor for Oron/Udung Uko and Ukpatu Selinah Isotuk for Ikot Abasi/Eastern Obolo constituency.

This is an increase from the previous two female lawmakers elected to the Akwa Ibom State House of Assembly in 2019.

Ogun

In Ogun State, two females were among the 26 newly elected members of the House of Assembly. They are Bolanle Lateefat Ajayi for Egbado South constituency and Bakare Omolola Olanrewaju for Ijebu Ode constituency.

Ajayi is returning to the assembly for the second time, while Bakare is a first timer.

Ajayi is a renowned teacher and philanthropist. She was trained at Egbado Teachers’ College, Ilaro and National Teachers Institute (NTI/DLS), Kaduna, Ilaro campus, Ogun State.

She previously served as a class teacher, assistant head teacher and head teacher.

Adamawa

In Adamawa, Kate Raymond Manuno (PDP) won to represent Demsa constituency at the state assembly. She was first elected in 2019, then re-elected in 2023.

Ondo

In Ondo, three females won seats in the House of Assembly in the last election.

They are Witherspoon Atinuke Morenike (Owo constituency I), Fayemi Olawunmi Annah (Ilaje Constituency), and Ogunlowo Oluwaseun (Idanre constituency).

The trio, who are all members of the ruling APC, were part of the 26 lawmakers elected at the weekend.

Ebonyi

In Ebonyi, out of the 24 seats, females won in two of state constituencies.

The winners are Mrs Esther Agwu and Chinyere Nwagbaga on the platform of the APC for Ohaukwu North and Ebonyi North East constituencies respectively.

Kaduna

In Kaduna, two women secured seats in the state assembly. Mrs Comfort Amwe of the PDP won for Sanga constituency, while Munira Suleiman Tanimu of the APC won the Lere East constituency.

Amwe is the only female at the Kaduna State House of Assembly since 2019 election and she was re-elect for a second term on the platform of the PDP.

Speaking on her emergence, Munira Tanimu said her focus would be on education, women and youth empowerment. She said there was the

need to support more women and the girl-child to participate in politics. She said the number of women in the North West was very low.

“My focus here is on education, and of course, youth empowerment. Right now, I feel it is a win for every woman because this is one thing I have been fighting for. I know that my voice will be heard,” she said.

We’re left behind – Women Trust Fund

Although many women in most of these states contested during the last Saturday polls, as well as during previous elections, they mostly lost to their male counterparts.

Lamenting the negative impact that low number of women in state legislative positions has, Mufuliat Fijane, the chief executive officer of the Nigeria Women Trust Fund (NWTF), said the implication was that women were left behind in lawmaking; hence decisions are reached without gender perspectives.

She added that, “The poor emergence of women as elected representatives of state houses of assembly is not unconnected with the poor acceptability of women as leaders who have qualifications to perform exceptionally well in elective positions.”

She also blamed the poor outing of women on the patriarchy nature of Nigeria as a country, adding that women are also challenged with the lack of resources, which they need to mobilise their constituencies.

“The electoral environment is also a contributory factor because of the attitude of politicians, who now see elective offices as their source of income rather than an avenue to develop and deepen democracy in Nigeria,” she said.

Dwindling number of female legislators

The International Republic Institute (IRI) and the National Democratic Institute (NDI), in a 2019 report, revealed that the Nigerian Senate had the lowest rate of female legislative participation in subSahara Africa.

Daily Trust Saturday reports that according to a 2018 report by the International Institute of Democracy and Electoral Assistance, women held only 14 per cent of parliamentary seats in Nigeria, one of the lowest percentages in Africa.

In the National Assembly, a total of 17 women made it to the 10th Assembly, according to the list published by INEC on successful candidates that won the February 25 National Assembly elections.

While three are female senators-elect, 14 of them would be sworn in as House of Representatives members.

This implies that out of the 469 seats at the National assembly, women occupy only 17 seats.

A 2022 report by the Gender Strategic

Advancement International (GSAI) indicated that the participation of Nigerian women in politics, which is at 6.7 per cent, falls below the African average of 23.4 per cent and a global average of 22.5 per cent.

However, the 2022 gender gap report by World Economic Forum ranks Nigeria at 141 out of 146 countries in terms of female political participation.

Gender experts have blamed the declining number of female representation in governance to a myriad of reasons, ranging from the absence of a piece of legislation, cultural factors, violence, and monetised nature of politics in Nigeria, among others.

Violence, religion, cultural factors limiting women participation - Don

Dr Riya’udeen Zubair of the Department of Political Science, Bayero University, Kano, said that religion, culture and tradition were powerful in our society, and as such, reflect in poor women participation in politics.

He said that besides these factors limiting women, the nature of politics is a relegating factor for women.

“We are running a kind of politics where you must have a political godfather for you to be able to fully and actively participate and even win elections; where you do not have an active godfather, even if you are willing to participate, these political gladiators that are controlling political parties will never allow your nomination to scale through.”

While being optimistic that things will change, Ireti Kingibe, Federal Capital Territory (FCT) senator-elect, told Daily Trust Saturday that it is sad that the number of women in the senate had dropped to three, “We really need to see how we can get that legislation passed.

“I plan on having more women in the party structures. I am going to support women to get tickets to become counselors. Out of the 62, I am targeting at least 25. So, within my party, you will see a huge improvement in the number of women in that area in the political space,” she said.

Itodo Daniel Sule, Dana Daniel Zagi (Abuja), Ado Abubakar Musa (Jos), Tijani Labaran (Lokoja), Mumini Abdulkareem (Ilorin), Titus Eleweke (Awka), Bassey Willie (Yenagoa), Magaji Isa Hunkuyi (Jalingo), Usman A . Bello (Benin), Anibaba Bushrah Adenike (Ibadan), Tosin Tope (Akure), Kabir Anwar (Yola), Iniabasi Umo (Uyo), Umar Muhammed (Lafia), Ahmed Ali (Kafanchan), Hope Abah Emmanuel (Makurdi), Peter Moses (Abeokuta), Idris Umar Momoh (Warri), Eyo Charles (Calabar), Raphael Ogbonnaiye (Ado-Ekiti) & Nabob Ogbonna (Abakaliki)