UN Women on Tuesday raised concerns over low female political representation ahead of Nigeria’s 2027 general elections.

It called for urgent reforms and inclusive governance.

The UN Women Country Representative to Nigeria and ECOWAS, Beatrice Eyong, made the call during the third session of the Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment Coordination Mechanisms Webinar Series.

The webinar, organised by the UN Women Nigeria Country Office, had the theme, “Women’s Participation in Governance and Leadership in Nigeria: Women’s Performance in the 2027 Elective and Appointive Processes – Barriers, Opportunities and the Way Forward.”

Ms Eyong said the 2027 elections would represent a defining moment for Nigeria to address exclusion of women from governance and political leadership.

She said the issue was no longer about the competence or qualification, stressing that many Nigerian women had continued to demonstrate excellence and make impacts locally and globally.

According to her, Nigeria has more than enough capable women to drive development not only within the country but across Africa.

“The question before us is not whether Nigerian women deserve representation. That one is settled,” she said.

Ms Eyong described the current level of women’s representation in governance as alarming.

“Women currently occupy only four out of 109 Senate seats and 16 out of 360 seats in the House of Representatives in the 10th National Assembly,” she said.

She said that women accounted for only 4.2 per cent of the entire National Assembly, while 13 state houses of assembly had no female members.

“Across all elective and appointive positions at the federal and state levels, women’s representation stands at a national average of approximately 6.7 per cent,” she said.

Ms Eyong noted that the World Economic Forum’s Global Gender Gap Report ranked Nigeria 143 out of 144 countries in women’s political participation.

She added that the Inter-Parliamentary Union placed the country among the lowest 10 globally for women representation in parliament.

She said the figures represented systematic and systemic exclusion of more than half of Nigeria’s population from decisions that shaped their lives.

She identified barriers confronting women in politics to include exorbitant nomination fees, monetised delegate systems, discriminatory party structures, cultural biases, violence, intimidation and online harassment.

According to her, political parties must begin reforms ahead of the 2027 elections by reducing nomination fees for women, supporting female consensus candidates and ending relegation of women to unwinnable constituencies.

Ms Eyong described the proposed Reserve Seats Bill before the National Assembly as a major opportunity for transformative inclusion of women in politics.

“The passage of this bill before the commencement of the 2027 electoral cycle will be transformational,” she said.

She, however, warned against depending solely on legislative outcomes, urging political parties and other stakeholders to take proactive measures irrespective of the bill’s fate.

President of the League of Women Voters of Nigeria, Irene Awunah-Ikyegh, said women’s inclusion in governance was critical to democratic consolidation, justice and national development.

“Today’s conversation is not merely about women occupying political positions. It is fundamentally about justice, fairness, democratic consolidation, sustainable development, national progress and the future of Nigeria,” she said.

Ms Awunah-Ikyegh said that though women constituted nearly half of Nigeria’s population and contributed significantly across sectors, they remained grossly under-represented in leadership and governance.

She described this as painful, noting that Nigerian women had contributed immensely to nation-building.

Ms Awunah-Ikyegh described the 2027 elections as an opportunity for national transformation and urged stakeholders to confront barriers hindering women’s political advancement.

According to her, Nigeria’s patriarchal social structure, cultural discrimination, gender stereotypes and political intimidation continued to discourage many qualified women from seeking elective offices.

“Women’s inclusion in governance is not about sympathy or tokenism. It is about competence, balance, diversity and national development,” she said.

She cited countries such as Rwanda, South Africa and Senegal as examples where deliberate reforms had significantly improved women’s political participation.

The league president urged women aspiring for leadership positions to build competence, strengthen grassroots support, invest in political structures and support one another.

Ms Awunah-Ikyegh also called for stronger collaboration among civil society organisations, political actors and male allies to advance inclusion of women in governance.

She said, “National progress requires partnership, not division. We must remain committed and strategic in working together on women’s political education, leadership development, voter mobilisation, grassroots advocacy, mentorship, peacebuilding, and promotion of inclusive governance.”

(NAN)