Election Watch 2027: Women make up 9.7% of 2027 election candidates

Nigeria’s 2027 general election has only 9.7 per cent women among the 4,899 candidates contesting the presidency, vice-presidency and National Assembly, compared with 90.3 per cent men, according to the final list of candidates published by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

In the presidential race, only two of the 18 candidates are women, while four women are contesting for vice-president. For the National Assembly, women account for 123 of the 1,303 candidates contesting for the Senate across the 109 senatorial districts. In the House of Representatives, 346 of the 3,560 candidates are women, contesting for 360 seats. 

The low number of female candidates contrasts with women's demographic and electoral significance. According to the 2023 United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) Nigeria report, women account for approximately 49.3 per cent of Nigeria's estimated population of 216 million people. 

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