The Nigerian Women Trust Fund (NWTF) has blamed political parties for the poor representation of women in the country’s political space.

Mufuliat Fijabi, the chief executive officer of NWTF, stated this during a workshop for political parties on gender-responsive policy-making in Abuja.

Ms Fijabi, who decried the low number of women elected representatives in the 2023 general elections, urged political parties to encourage and support women by ensuring a level playing ground within the party structure through gender inclusion.

“The level of gender inclusion in Nigeria’s political space is still very low, it’s extremely poor. This election has shown us that we have a long way to go when it comes to the inclusion of women and when it comes to women emerging as elected representatives,” Ms Fijabi explained. “And that’s why we will not leave political parties alone because we know if there is an enabled level playing ground within political parties, more women will emerge.”

She added, “They will emerge not only as candidates for political parties but as elected representatives. So we are holding all political parties in Nigeria accountable for low representation of women in the political space.”

Santiago Stocker, Nigeria’s resident programme director of the International Republican Institute (IRI), underscored the need for more strategies to ensure gender-responsive policy-making.

“Policy making has become a critical part of the governance process, and the integration of gender in the policy process will help to address the challenges of women participation and service delivery,” stated Mr Stocker. “This is important not just for internal party democracy and inclusion. It is also important because of the role that political parties play towards increasing women’s political participation in the overall process.”

According to him, political parties are a microcosm of the larger political process.

“If parties are exclusive, detached and secretive decision-making bodies, this will be reflected in the overall political system. If parties are inclusive, transparent and dedicated to policy-making that addresses the needs of their supporters and constituents, that will also be reflected in the overall political system. This will be a very positive step forward,” he said.

Dudu Manuga, the national women leader of the Labour Party, said the party was building the capacity of women to take up major leadership roles within its structure and beyond.

“Our aim is that by 2027, when we have our party’s congresses, we will have more women in the party structure, not just women leaders. We have started encouraging women to come out. It’s not a man’s world. Politics is for both men and women,” stressed Ms Manuga. “If we don’t have women on the table, the issues of women cannot be carried out properly in governance.”

(NAN)