‘57 women in 993-state assembly seats discouraging’

The Invictus Africa, a civil society organisation promoting good governance, has said that only 57 women elected as members in the 993-member state houses of assembly is a setback for democratic development in the country.

The Executive Director, Invictus Africa, Ms Bukky Shonibare, said this Wednesday in a statement.

“The 57 women were elected out of the 1,049 female candidates (among 10,232 total candidates) who vied to be members of Nigeria’s State Houses of Assembly during the 2023 Elections. This means the next State Houses of Assembly will have only 5.7 percent women’s representation.

“It is noteworthy that 13 states have no women in their houses of assembly. They are Abia, Bauchi, Borno, Gombe, Imo, Jigawa, Katsina, Kano, Kebbi, Osun, Sokoto, Yobe, and Zamfara.

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“6.8 percent is the highest percentage of women’s representation in Nigeria’s state houses of assembly since 1999. Since 1999, five states have never had a female Member in their houses of assembly –that is 24 years ago. These states are Bauchi, Katsina, Kebbi, Sokoto, and Zamfara,” Shonibare said.

He also noted that only three women were elected to the 109-member Senate; while only 17 women were elected to the 360-member House of Reps, meaning that in the 10th Assembly, women only have only 2.8 percent representation.