WIMBIZ, UN Women lament women’s poor participation in politics, pledge support

Women in Management, Business and Public Service (WIMBIZ) in partnership with the United Nations (UN) Women and the Canadian Government have called for dialogue and improved support for women in politics and leadership positions across Nigeria.

The UN Women Country representative to Nigeria and ECOWAS, Beatrice Eyong, during a roundtable in Abuja recently, lamented that women occupy a miserly 3.8 percent of parliamentary seats across the nation.

She listed factors affecting women’s participation in politics and governance to include limited funding, economic disparity and unequal media access, among others.

She said her organisation is ready to strengthen relationships in partnership with the Ministry of Women Affairs, civil societies, media development partners and the private sector to advance women leadership in the next elections but with more focus on the 2027 elections.

Speaking further, she applauded the 25 gubernatorial female aspirants and encouraged others, saying the organisation, in collaboration with the Ministry of Women Affairs and Women Development Centre, would set up a resource centre for women aspiring for political office to further assist them.

The Minister of Women Affairs, who was represented by a director in the Ministry, Nasiru Baba Saleh, said women in politics must aspire to better positions instead of the post of women leaders alone. She added that a good number of the factors hindering women’s participation in politics required strong constitutional reforms.

Executive Director, WIMBIZ, Hansatu Adegbite, said the private sector could not effectively contribute to nation building without the right people in governance because whatever happens in the political and public space affects the private sector greatly. She added that WIMBIZ is providing a suitable platform and total support for women in politics, thereby increasing women’s representation in leadership positions.