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Imbalanced gender representation in cabinets during Nigeria’s Fourth Republic

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November 28, 2023

Imbalanced gender representation in cabinets during Nigeria’s Fourth Republic

Source: Centre for Democracy and Development

For a country with a significant female population, Nigeria has been poor in ensuring gender parity in elected and appointed leadership positions. Since 1979, the country has practiced a presidential form of government, with a devolved form of government across three tiers—federal, state and local levels. Yet, despite the number of elective constituencies available, there has been little to no women elected to these positions. Nigeria has never elected a female president, vice-president or a governor in any of its thirty-six states. Women elected to the national legislature have been a scant percentage in any of the ten constituted sessions of either chamber, with none emerging as president of the senate and a roughly five-month stint for the only woman to emerge speaker of the house of representatives (Polgreen, 2007).

Click here to read the full report published by the Centre for Democracy and Development on 27 November 2023.

Image by Centre for Democracy and Development 

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Resource type
Region
Author
Afolabi Adekaiyaoja
Publisher
Centre for Democracy and Development
Publication year
2023

For a country with a significant female population, Nigeria has been poor in ensuring gender parity in elected and appointed leadership positions. Since 1979, the country has practiced a presidential form of government, with a devolved form of government across three tiers—federal, state and local levels. Yet, despite the number of elective constituencies available, there has been little to no women elected to these positions. Nigeria has never elected a female president, vice-president or a governor in any of its thirty-six states. Women elected to the national legislature have been a scant percentage in any of the ten constituted sessions of either chamber, with none emerging as president of the senate and a roughly five-month stint for the only woman to emerge speaker of the house of representatives (Polgreen, 2007).

Click here to read the full report published by the Centre for Democracy and Development on 27 November 2023.

Image by Centre for Democracy and Development 

.

Resource type
Region
Author
Afolabi Adekaiyaoja
Publisher
Centre for Democracy and Development
Publication year
2023