BRIDGING THE GENDER GAP IN NIGERIA'S POLITICAL REPRESENTATION: THE ROLE OF THE INDEPENDENT NATIONAL ELECTORAL COMMISSION (INEC)

Abstract

Recently, Nigeria has made tremendous progress toward gender equality, but there is still a noticeable gender imbalance in the country's political representation. Despite making up 49.31% of Nigeria's population and 47.5% of registered voters, there are considerable obstacles standing in the way of women’s participation in the politics. In addressing these issues and in closing the gender gap in Nigeria's political process, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) is crucial. This paper analyses the current status and the key factors that contribute to gender representation in Nigeria’s political process; evaluated the effectiveness of INEC's gender mainstreaming strategies in promoting women's participation in politics and assessed the factors affecting INEC’s quest to bridge the gender gap. Data were collected through secondary sources of data from extant literature, statistics, and other relevant information. Data obtained were analysed descriptively through content analysis. The study found that women are currently grossly underrepresented in Nigeria's political process, despite a slight upward trend between 1999 and 2023. It was revealed that INEC had implemented a number of gender mainstreaming methods, some of which had shown some degree of success, including the Gender Policy Framework, Affirmative Action, the establishment of the Gender and Inclusivity Department at the national, and Gender and Inclusivity Units (GIUs) at the state level. Despite these efforts, the involvement of women in Nigerian politics from 1999 to 2023 was low. Socio-cultural reasons, political party structures, violence and intimidation, and a lack of resources were some of the factors identified as impeding INEC's efforts to close the gender gap. The study concluded that the role played by INEC in bridging the gender gap in Nigeria’s political representation is minimally effective.