Why women lose elections in Nigeria – Survey

<p>Respondents said if cultural, religion and inferiority complex among other barriers were removed, most women would contest and win more positions in the country.</p>, <span>Nigerians participated in the presidential and National Assembly elections on Saturday, February 2023</span>, <h2>Women are politically very active in Nigeria and make up about 60 per cent of the crowd during campaigns and elections, according to available statistics.</h2>, <p>One would thus expect that with this level of participation, the number of women holding political positions, especially elective positions, should be significantly high.</p>, <p>Surprisingly, however, this is far from being so in Nigeria.</p>, <p>A survey carried out by the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), showed that traditional and cultural values, illiteracy, religion and poor economic standing have continued to hurt women’s chances of winning elections in the country.</p>, <p>Other factors included Nigeria’s rugged political terrain and the fact that women hardly vote for their kind.</p>, <p>According to Chief Akpodiogaga Emeyese, former member of the House of Representatives who represented Ethiope Federal Constituency of Delta, traditional and cultural values of Africa and Nigeria in particular, do not really favour the growth or advancement of women in politics.</p>, <p>“As Nigerians, we have the belief, whether rightly or wrongly, that the place of the woman is in the kitchen.</p>, <p>“Nothing underscores this belief more than the much-publicised statement of former President Muhammadu Buhari who said that ‘the place of the woman is in the other room.</p>, <p>“This is the view or belief of the average Nigerian man. It is thus very difficult for an average Nigerian man to allow his wife to attend political meetings let alone present herself for any elective position to be voted for.”</p>, <p>Emeyese said that as a result, a very negligible number of women end up participating in active politics and eventually contesting elections.</p>, <p>He also said that the hi