UCLAUfahamu: A Journal of African Studies

TitlePoliitical Parties and Women's Political Leadership in Nigeria: The Case of the PDFD, the ANPP, and the AD

Permalinkhttps://escholarship.org/uc/item/40t94009

JournalUfahamu: A Journal of African Studies, 32(3)

ISSN0041-5715

AuthorBadmus, Isiaka Alani

Publication Date2006

DOI10.5070/F7323016507

Copyright InformationCopyright 2006 by the author(s). All rights reserved unless otherwise indicated. Contact the author(s) for any necessary permissions. Learn more at https://escholarship.org/terms Peer reviewed

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Political Parties and Women's PoUtlcal Leadership inNigeria: The Case of the PDp, the ANPP, and the AD

lsiaka Alani BadInus

Abstract

Women constitute at least halfofNigeria spopulation. Theymake important and largely unacknowledgedcontributionsto economic life and play crucial roles in all spheres ofsociety. In spite ofNigeria slong history ofpoliticalparties,veryfew Nigerian women have heldpolitical offices, eitherelected or appointed. The passive participation ofwomenin the nation spolitical parties and policymaking bodiessuggests that affirmative action in favor ofwomen has notbeen given adequate attention. This affects women spowerin influencing the nation spublicpolicies. As alreadynoted,by their demographic advantage, women have the capacityto decide on the political leadership, but very few womenemerge to the leadership positions ofpolitical parties andevenfewer become party candidQlesfor electoral contests.Why is this so? Is it because women do not put themselves

forward? Or, is it because women voters believe that mencan represent their interests adequately? Is it because malepolitical leaders perceive women political leaders as athreatta "male" power? This article seeks to explicate theunderlyingfactors that have been affecting the emergenceof women political leadership in Nigeria by focusing onthe three dominant political parties of Nigeria s FourthRepublic. The article concludes that the currentdevelopmental tasks require that women rise beyond thetokenism that they are used to receiving and rise to playSignificant and effective roles in the process ofdemocratizing the Nigerian polity.

Ufahamu 32:3 Spring 2006

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Introduction

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Women constitute at least half of Nigeria'spopulation. They make important and largelyunacknowledged contributions to economic life and playcrucial roles in all spheres ofsociety. In spite ofNigeria'slong history ofpoJitical parties, very few Nigerian womenhave held political offices either elected or appointed. Thisis partly due to the cultural and economic constraints thatprevent women from actively participating in politics, andthe fact that political parties and indeed the electorate stillfeel reluctant to elect women in leadership positions. Thepassive participation of women in the nation's politicalparties and policy making bodies suggests that affinnativeaction in favour of women has not been given adequateattention. This affects women's power in influencing thenation's public policies. As already adumbrated, by theirdemographic advantage, women have the capacity todecide on the political leadership. But very few womenemerge to the leadership positions ofpolitical parties andeven fewer become party candidates for electoral contests.Why is this so? Is it because women do not put themselvesforward? Or, is it because women voters believe that mencan represent their interests adequately? Is it because malepolitical leaders perceive women political leaders as athreat to "male" power? Presumably, all these factors areinterrelated and constitute the problematic of this studywhich must be explored.

Scope and Limitation of the Study

This study is concerned with political parties andfemale political leadership in Nigeria'S Fourth Republic(May 29, 1999 to dale), focusing on the People's

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Democratic Party (PDP), the All Nigerian People's Party(ANPP), and the Alliance for Democracy (AD). Problemsencountered in the course of this exercise include theattitudes of the people to questions posed as there wereoften delays and hesitation before they answered.

Method and Techniques

Methodologically, both primary and secondarysources ofdata were employed in this study. The primarysources include fieldwork that involved interviewschedules purposively conducted with some selected KeyInformants (KlS) in Abuja, Lagos, and Oyo states. TheseKlS are women politicians from the three dominantpolitical parties of Nigeria's Fourth Republic. Inconducting these interviews, tape recorders were used andnote-taking was done alongside to record other physicalobservations of people interviewed. Our primary sourceof data collection also includes the administration of astructured questionnaire to the target population. Therespondents cut across sex, religion, ethnic group, andprofession. The central objectives of the data collectedvia questionnaire (as well as interviews) were to find outthe voting pattern of the electorate during the 2003 generalelections, reasons for not voting for female candidates,whether men (as against women) represent the electoratebetter, etc.

The secondary source of data involved datacollection through literature assessment on our subject ofinquiry, manifestoes of the three political parties, and,finally, the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic ofNigeria. This study employed a simple random samplingtechnique. Consequently, 300 questionnaires weredistributed in the three sampled areas, i.e. 100

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questionnaires for each afthe two states (Oyo and Lagos),and 100 questionnaires also for Abuja. We accept the factthat the number of the survey instruments is smallcompared to the size of the population of these areas, butit is representative of the total populations of the selectedareas. The analytical technique adopted for the obtaineddata were descriptive and quantitative.

Following from the above, this paper engages inthe analysis of how women have been empowered (orotherwise) to realize their political leadership potentialsin Nigeria within the three political parties: the People'sDemocratic Party (PDP). the All Nigerian People's Party(ANPP), and the Alliance for Democracy (AD) which arethe dominant parties of Nigeria's Fourth Republic. It is,therefore, hoped that with the results of this study, somesuggestions will be made for empowering women andmore fundamentally, contribute to the emergence offemale political leaders in Nigeria.

The rest of the paper is divided into five broadsections. The first discusses thc kcy concepts that arecentral to this study, while the second takes a quick lookat the feminine political passivity and its main features.The third part considers the historical review of womenin Nigeria's politics. This is followed with the case studiesand general discussions and findings, while the final partproffers effective solutions to the marginalization ofwomen in politics.

Political Party, Political Participation, and Leadership:Towards a Conceptual Clarification

This paper begins with some clarification of thethree key concepts that are central to the study: politicalparty, leadership, and political participation. At the risk

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ofrepeating what is well known, we shall attempt to sketchthe essentials of these concepts in our explanation.Political party as a concept is multifaceted in its meaningfor it does not lend itself to a precise definition and itsmeaning, nature, and content have been understooddifferently by various scholars. Preferred meaningdepends on cherished values and interests. In this paper,a political party is conceptualized as any group ofpeoplewith symmetrical political opinions, principles, andideologies, and who, on the basis of this ideologicalsymmetry, unite to gain, through competitive efforts forvotes, the control ofgovernment, in order to translate theirformulated policies and programs (manifestoes) intopublic policy (Derbyshire and Derbyshire, 1991: 139). Inother words, the aim of a political party is the gaining ofpolitical power to aid the realization of its ideas andpolitical foresight. As conceptualized, political party isdistinguishable from pressure group for its sole objectiveis fundamentally to win elections, control state power andbe in charge ofgovernment, and thereafter allocate valuesand resources to other members of the society (Onuoha,2003: 137). Interestingly, political parties provide theplatforms for mass mobilization and participation ofmembers (men and women) in politics.

Political participation, on the other hand, refers tothe variety of ways in which people try to exerciseinfluence over political processes. The ultimate aim ofpolitical participation is to wield political power andinfluence. The electorate is stimulated to take part inpolitical decisions affecting lives (e.g. voting) through theparties' clarification of issues and provision ofindispensable information on both socio-political currentevents and candidates for political office. There seems tobe a close interrelationship between participating in a

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political process and actually holding some politicalpower, although there cannot be any power withoutparticipation. For better understanding, it is important torevisit a heirarchical model of political participationdeveloped by Milbraith (1 %5: 18), which shows the levelsofpolitical participation in descending order: holding partyand public office, being a candidate for office, solicitingpolitical funds, attending a caucus or strategy meeting,becoming an active member ofa party, contributing timeto political campaigns, attending a political meeting orrally, etc. In the context of Nigeria's experience withpolitical parties, female political participation is veryminimal. This is largely due to the fact that politicalparticipation is characterized by a high degree ofexclusionof women supporters who do not detennine the realdirection of the party politics (International IDEA, 2000:121). Leadership is a relational concept underlined bypower. trust and defined goals. In this paper leadership istaken to mean the "ability to obtain non-coerced. voluntarycompliance which enables followers to attain goals whichtbey share with the leaders" (Cartwright, 1983: 21).

Explaining Feminine Political Passivity

Literature on women in politics is replete withmultifarious reasons for the masculine super-ordination!feminine subordination dichotomy. This dichotomycreates hurdles for female advancement in decision­making and politics that surround them in all spheres ofthe society (Stitcher and Parpart, 1990; Imam et ai, 1985;Imam, 1987; Boserup, 1970; Dorsey et ai, 1989). Theforemost critical factor adduced by pundits is that of thesocia-cultural beliefs and myths, which. to a greater extent.

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detennine the perception of men and women right fromchildhood. Nzomo buttressed this fact by saying that:

The sex-stereotypes and gendersegregation in employment and allocationof roles in private and public life areprimarily a product of the earlysocialization process, the indoctrination ofthe societal environment. In this regard,many women's 'hang up' and lack ofconfidence in their ability to competentlyexecute public leadership roles, arise fromthis socialization which is insubordinationin nature (1991:5).

Sadly enough, the pervasive socio-culturalpractices of patriarchy in many cultures represent one ofthe most formidable constraints to women's participationin Nigeria's political processes. Patriarchy as a system ofmale domination in socio-cultural, economic and politicalaffairs perpetually relegates women to the background.In addendum, patriarchy as a system disempowers womenvia various discriminatory customary practices such asdisinheritance of females, humiliating widowhood rites,taboos against acquisition of property, beliefs insupernatural forces and food taboos, and exclusion fromdecision-making in the family or community (Aina, 1998:3-32; Agina-Ude, 2003: 4). Subjected to patriarchal norms,women's political expressions are limited toentertainment, and voting for candidates preferred by theirhusbands. Basically, men thought it abominable to beunder a woman's leadership. This is quite revealing in astudy carried out in a rural community in Anambra stateof Nigeria which shows that men feel that it is something

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close to a taboo for women to rule over them (FreidrichEbert Foundation, 1998: 108).

Aside from the socia-cultural constraints, the roleof the established male dominated political systems andthe lack of political will on the part of government areinhibiting women's political leadership in Nigeria. Withrespect to the latter, Agina-Ude (2003) contends that apartfrom using gender issues to score political points, theNigerian leadership has never really taken practical stepsto increase female presence in public offices. This scholarargues further that:

Nothing stops the federal and state chiefexecutives from appointing a sizeablenumber of women into public offices tomake up for the shortfall in all electiveposts (ibid).

Furthermore, the structures ofpolitical parties alsoimpede the effective participation of Nigerian women inpolitics and public positions. Numerous empirical studieshave shown that infonnation about politics is disseminatedthrough channels that men have more access to, not tomention that the language of politics can appear alien towomen. Apart from the foregoing, the very nature ofpartisan politics in Nigeria is nothing to write home aboutas far as gender is concerned. Male politicians believe inpolitical thuggery, elimination of political opponents,incitement of ethnic and sectarian violence, vote rigging,intimidation, vote buying and unnecessary clandestinemeetings targeted at excluding women from participating(Okunkunbor, 2002; Onoge, 200 I). These factors interactto promote the environmental context suitable for therecycling of the same class of male politicians in Nigeria

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which is evident in most African countries. Furthermore,experience during the last general elections shows thatsome parties had unwritten policies against femaleaspirants. Of note, is the fact that the parties determinewho gets to contest for what post and the party apparatusis used to enhance the ambition of selected candidates.

In addition, the fact that education is a basic hwnanright that provides opportunities for socia-economicadvancement is eminently unarguable. Indeed, womencontinue to endure inadequate representation in politicaland decision making because offonnidable socio-culturaldeterminants against women's participation in education(Nzomo, 1987). For instance, because of socio-culturalattitudes and sexist stereotypes, financial limitations,patriarchal practices, early female marriages,submissiveness, motherhood, passivity, family subsistencethrough child labour, and parental perception ofeducation's influence on women's world view, the girl isdeliberately denied education and opportunities formeaningful future political participation. On the otherhand, male children are socialized/educated to becomekings, chiefs, family heads, aggressive, competitive,professionals, and independent minded (Alao, 1998: 92­93). As Nzomo (1987) rightly emphasized, there is aninstitutionalized and structural educational prejudice,which ensures that inappropriate/inadequate education isemployed to obstruct women's participation in politicalprocesses-a situation that generates very high femaleschool dropout rates, described as wastage of inestimablehuman intellectual resources.

Furthennore, Nigerian politicians/politics requireenonnous financial resources to ensure effective politicalparticipation. At various levels, varying degree offmancialcommitments is required to establish and sustain political

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party membership. Traditionally, women are restricted bysocia-cultural prescriptions to poorly remuneratedsubsistence agricultural activities devoid of landownership, low-level office employment, and primarilydomestic labour centered on procreation/motherhood(lmam, 1987). Without land, a highly preferred collateralsecurity in financial institutions, the prospects ofmobilizing funds for political participation by women isfurther hampered (Oluwemimo, 1998: 66-67).

In Nigeria, the three dominant religions containrestrictive tenets to female participation in their rituals.For instance, Islam regulates residential and publicappearances (Kulle or Purdah) ofwomen. As afyet, thereare still no female Islamic and Catholic religious beads.Looking specifically at Christianity, it stipulates thesubordination of women. According to the Holy Bible,"for the woman is not of man: but the woman for theman" (I Corinthians 11: 8-9). Also, "Let your women keepsilent in the churches: for it is not permitted unto them tospeak; but they are commanded to be under obedience, asalso saith the law. And if they will learn anything, let themask their husbands at home: for it is a shame for womento speak in the church" (1 Corinthians 14: 34-35).Religious injunctions like these have robbed and restrictedwomen and made the churches male dominated. Thetraditional religion is even more decisive with itsapplication of stringent taboos on women (Aina, 1998).In these religions, women are restricted to certain areaswithin their worship facilities. Invariably, these are issuescentral to the manipulation of women for voting andengagement in Nigeria's political processes (Abdullah,1993).

The aforementioned factors are interrelated andaptly summed up by Duverger:

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If the majority ofwomen are little attractedto political carriers, it is becauseeverything tends to turn away from them;If they allow politics to remain essentiallya man's business, it is because everythingis conducive to this belief; tradition, familylife, education, religion and literature. Thesmall part played by women in politicsmerely reflects and results from thesecondary place to which they are assignedby the custom and attitudes of our societyand which their education and training tendto make them accept as the natural orderof things (Duverger, 1975: 129-130, citedin Nzomo, 1991).

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It is on this note that Willis (1991: 24) calls forwomen's empowerment and support to overcome thesystemic man~made barriers to their political participation.

Women in Nigerian Politics: Historical Review

Studies on Nigerian women clearly reveal that inspite of the apparent male dominance, it is highlysignificant to note that some women have succeeded inforcing themselves into the exalted platform of activeparticipants in history. There is no doubt that as a gender,women are under-represented in the governance ofNigerian society, but the point we are making is that thehistorical appraisal of Nigeria's past provides evidenceof women political leaders of respectable genre. Thisposition is supported by Bolanle Awe:

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...an analysis of the leading figures of thepre-twentieth century Africa will show thatthere were more women than men in theforefront ofsocial. political and economiclife, than in contemporary Africa, and thatduring that period, the dominant positionwhich the women held was both qualitativeand quantitative (cited in Aibangbee,2003).

Another scholar who studied the roles ofNigerianwomen from the pre-colonial era up to the beginning ofthe Second Republic (1979-1983) is Mba (1982); heraccount provides a romanticization of igeria's pre­colonial past. The study reveals that the tradition ofmanyNigerian groups clearly confinned that our womenoccupied important positions, not only in the economicdomain, but also in socia-political spheres. Examplesabound to illustrate these influences. To start with, amongthe Yoruba of the Southwestern part of the country,Johnson's study of the political system and constitutionof the old Oyo Empire clearly shows women occupyingimportant political offices (Johnson, 1966:63-66).Prominent among these were "the ladies ofthe palace" or"the King's wives." This group includes, (i) the Iya Dba,the A/ajin s 'official mother' who played mother to theking; (ii) Iya kere who was in charge of the King'streasures and royal symbol. This woman had far reachingpolitical power and she could refuse to surrender these tothe king if she was not satisfied with his conduct. Nextwas the fya Mode who was the priestess in charge of theveneration of the spirits of departed kings. It is said thatthe king looked upon her as a 'father' and addressed herassuch (Afigbo, 1991: 26).

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Moremi is another woman of fearlessness amongthe Yoruba. She rescued her lIe-ife people from Igboinvasion by allowing herself to be captured as a strategyin order to know the internal workings of the invaders.Other women of wealth and repute were Madam Tinubu,and Madam Efunsetan who later became the [ya/ode ofIbadan.

In the Central Sudan, the myth of Queen Aminain the Hausa political traditions is not in doubt. As a femaleleader, history recorded that Queen Amina 's "political andmilitary exploits dazzled all Hausa land in the 16" Centurywhen she came to the throne of Zaria only a few decadesafter the foundation of Zaria city of Zarkin BarkwaTurunku" (Afigbo, 1991: 24). During her time she wasregarded as an astute administrator who achieved muchfor her area of governance. With respect to Bomo, thepolitical imports of the Gumsu in the Amir's Court aswell as the Maigira have been well documented. Amongthe Igala of Nigeria, during their age of domination bythe Jukuns, lnkpi, a princess of the Igala royal family,bravely surrendered herself as a sacrificial lamb for thefreedom of the Igala from the Jukuns. History recordedthat she died a heroic death in order to put an end to theJukuns overlordship of the Igala. lnkpi thus surrenderedher life to bring peace to the Igala. As a result ofher death,the Igala breathed the air offreedom. Inkpi's self-sacrificeenabled the Igala to gain freedom and to subsequentlyunite and consolidate.

Noteworthy is the resistance to colonialism bynotable women like Madam Tinubu and Madam Pelewurawho provided a link with the Lagos market women forHerbert Macaulay, a foremost nationalist. This was similarto the Eastern "Women's War" against the obnoxiouscolonial policies and the Warrant Chief System. In the

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same context, Mrs. Funmilayo Ransome-Kutiindependently organized women's revolts against taxationand other policies unfavourable to women in Abeokuta.Beyond this, Mrs. Ransome-Kuti also extended supportto Mrs. Margaret Ekpo who had commenced anindependent resistance to colonial policies in EasternNigeria. Mrs. Ransome-Kuti later transformed herAbeokuta Women's Union (AWU) into the NigeriaWomen's Union (NWU). This union was also to latertransform into the Federation of Nigerian Women'sSociety (FNWS) with the mandate ofarticulating women'sposition in Nigerian society (Williams, 1992). It is onrecord that Mrs. Ransome-Kuti's political activism led toher membership in the National Council of NigerianCitizens (NCNC) and as part of the Nigerian delegationto London to lodge a formal protest with the Secretary ofState for the Colonies before independence in 1960. Also,one should not forget the roles played by Chief (Mrs.)Bolarinwa and Alhaja Hurnani Alaga. These two womenwere able to mobilize women to support the Action GroupParty (AG) of Chief Obafemi Awolowo in the WesternRegion. Besides, Hajia Sawaba Gambo was a prominentfemale leader and rose to become the leader of thewomen's wing of the radical political party, the NorthernElements Progressive Union (NEPlJ). She was a strongally of Mallam Aminu Kano in the radical politics of theNorth. NEPU provided her the platform for organizedactivism. It is on this note that Olaitan argues that:

...while women were not really wellrepresented at the governmental levelthrough the electoral political processbecause of their dis-enfranchisement, theywere nonetheless a force to be reckoned

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with at the non-governmental level interms of mobilizing support for politicalcauses, and sometimes even inchampioning their own and generalsocietal interests (1998:77).

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Women however ex.perienced the followingobstacles during the period under review: enticement frompolitical parties which they could not resist and maritalpressures that facilitated acceptance of the "women'swing" idea. Thus, their query of the women's wing ideawhen there was no men's wing yielded no fruits. Withthis trend, it should not surprise anyone that by the timeNigeria acquired political independence, women had beenthoroughly marginalized from any political role. Theuppish attitude of some women who thought the answerwas to form their own parties was a resounding failure.The market women were right by being suspicious oftheirlanguage not to talk of the failure of uppish women toempathize on their plight in the market place. And forsure, a women's party automatically cuts out about halfthe population.

The analysis of women's political participation inpost-independence Nigeria leads one to conclude thatwomen are bound to remain marginalized. That meansthat the high political awareness has not been translatedinto a high level offemale involvement in public decision­making. For instance, during Nigeria's First Republic(1960-1966), only four women were elected in the entirecountry: Mrs Wuraola Esan and Mrs. Bernice Kerry inParliament, and Mrs. Margaret Ekpo and Mrs. JanetMuokelu in the Eastern House of Assembly. No womanwas appointed as Minister. In the Second Republic (1979­1983), the situation did not show much improvement. Of

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the 57 Senators, only one, Franca Afegbula, was female.In the Lower House (Representatives) of 445 members,11 were females. There were no women in the StateAssemblies, and no female Councilor or Chairperson ofLocal Government. In the aborted Third Republic (1985­1993) under General Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida, onlytwo women featured in the Political Bureau, while only 3women were in Local Governments as the Chairpersonsout of 591 seats. The State Houses ofAssembly had only27 women out of 1172 members, while Federal Housesof Parliament had only 15 women. There were no electedwomen in the 14 states. In 1991, 8 out of 31 presidentialaspirants were women.

Women, Political Parties, and Nigeria's FourthRepublic: General Discussions and Findings

From the aforementioned statistical representationofwomen's political participation in Nigeria, it seems thata favourable ground is still elusive for female politicalleadership in the country. One admits that there are culturalbarriers, but certainly political parties are supposed toserve as bridges linking women with their politicalleadership through their party structures, partymachineries, and functions. The experience in the FourthRepublic shows that political parties are not yet directedto actualize this goal. The three dominant political partiesclaim in their manifestoes that they would uplift the lot ofwomen. To really have a better understanding of theseparties' activities concerning women, it is important tovisit their manifestoes which are documents containingpolitical intentions on the basis of which parties andcandidates woo voters during elections. Table I (seeAppendix) shows the three parties' manifestoesconcernmg women.

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From this presentation, it can be seen, accordingto Simbine (2003: 145) that, "provisions certainly existin the manifestoes of the three political parties on womenissues and in the case of the APP (now ANPP) and theAD, are actually unusually the same. In terms ofcontentsfor all three parties, greater involvement is to be promoted,effective participation in decision·making is to be securedand encouraged especially in electoral contests andpolitical appointments."

Under this new political dispensation, hopes wereinitially raised to improve participation of women, theso-called "disadvaolaged group," be i1 at the level ofpartyor elective posts in the country. It is disheartening that inspite ofremarkable efforts made by some political parties,it is obvious that women, even though politically active,are mainly voters. For example, in the 1999 elections,women constituted about 27 million out of the 47 millioneligible registered voters but only 1.61% nfthem actuallywon elections (Hussaini, 200 I: 24). At the level of partypolitics, female membership of political parties was SOloaccording to the 1999 party registrations. Furthermore,female party executives were 7%; and women qualifiedas party delegates stood at 8% (National AffirmativeAction, 1999). The principal reason for this trend is whatis usually referred to as the "Politics of Women's Wing"of political parties. Almost all the political parties have"women brigade" or "women's wing." How theseperipheral groups are used to manipulate women and keepthem out ofmainstream politics has been well docwnented(Badejo, 1990; Sani, 2001; Agina-Ude, 2003). What isdismaying in the politics of "women's wing" is that byconfming women political participation to the so-called"women's wing", the party had erected a mechanism notonly for retarding the participation ofwomen but, in fact,

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for resisting the "empowerment" of women towardsindependent and self-enlightened participation. Indeed,by remaining officially linked to older incorporatedstructures, such women's organizations were tied to theparty's dictates and its overriding interest in securing asmuch of the female vote as possible. No wonder someradical feminist believed that "women's wings" were theworst enemies of female participation in politics.

Party politics are characterized by a structurereliant on funding, male domination, and tendency toviolence. All these are vices in the political party structuresthat impede female political leadership in Nigeria. Thus.the political parties which are supposed to integratewomen in politics so as to harness their political leadershippotential for national development fail to do so. The effectof this is the purging out of women illicitly from theirpolitical context through the institutional and structuralbarriers found in political parties. Political parties alsofail to make political information available for women inpolitics. Similarly, women are not made to contest underequal conditions with males. Yet, such unequal chancesare often used against women. For instance, women werenot made to pay for political nomination in the PDP. Theimplication of this is making women to feel inferior totheir male counterparts. Women feel that since they donot pay, they do not lose anything for losing the elections.This situation is well captured by Mrs. Nkoyo Toyo, astrong PDP member who contested for the party primaryfor a House ofRepresentatives seat in CalabarlUduakpaniFederal Constituency. While narrating her experience, sheoffered a strong appreciation of the obstacles that stoppedher. Her party, the PDP, she said, is:

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...structured for exclusion and for everywoman, there are both the party and thepersonal challenges to contend with,especially concerning expectations notonly by the male designed and dominatedstructures but also by fellow women... Onpaper, the PDP has good policies forencouraging women's participation, whichdoes not play out in practice. For example,women were exempted from paying thenomination fees, but even this turned outto be much liability... The PDP 30% policyfor women has not been implemented(personal interview).

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Mrs. Toyo, a human rights activist and ExecutiveDirector of Gender and Development Action (GADA)argues that some people - men in this case - conductedthemselves in a way that gives the impression that theparty was in their pocket. According to her:

Some people behaved as though theyowned the party and spent much effort andtime making sense that those theyconsidered outsiders should not penetrateeither in terms of getting information oreven getting a fair chance to contest(Okeke, 2003: 70).

Mrs. Nkoyo Toyo's position is well supported bya female Senator of the PDP as reported by Gimbiya(December, 2000: 7). According to this report, the Senatorconfinned that women are still marginalized when sheexamined the number of women appointed as Board

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members by the Federal Government that is controlledby the PDP. According to her, it is frustrating that the partyis unable to live up to its campaign promises on femaleparticipation in politics by giving them 30% ofall politicalappointments. She was irritated, specifically, by the factthat of 833 Federal Board appointments, only 86 weregiven to women. She succinctly states:

Of the 130 federal boards, only 7boards are to be chaired by women,representing 5.6% ofthe appointments.If the 30% earlier promised to thewomen were to be upheld, womenwould chair 39 afthe boards out afthe130 so far announced. It isdisheartening to note that out of the833 appointed members ... womenrepresent 10.3%. This is contrary to thecampaign promises of the PDPgovernment that is in power(December, 2000: 7).

The experience of Onyeka Onwenu, a popularartist, who also sought the chairmanship ticket for IdeatoLocal Government of Imo State on the platform of thePDP, is similar. According to her:

The intrigues were many as you havecandidates who brought money to the fieldand were distributing; you have candidateswho sent buses to get underage schoolchildren to vote for them; you hadcandidates who, when they were throughwith this ward, they would get their

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supporters transported to another ward tostand on the line and vote for them; youhad paid officials... (Okeke, 2003: 71).

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The experience ofMrs. Yetunde Sanni wbo was apioneer member of the PDP in Lagos state captured theproblems confronting women within the party in particularand politics in general. Essentially, it was easier for a camelto pass through the eye of a needle than for ber to securethe party's ticket in Ifako/ljaye into the House ofRepresentatives. Mrs. Sanni stated:

When the PDP was introduced to us inIfako/Ijaye Local Government area ofLagos state in 1989, no politician wasready to associate with this party. Eventhose men who now parade themselves asleaders of the party in the state were notready to host PDP meetings in their houses.I volunteered to use my house as the venuefor the party's meetings. That was why Iwas elected unopposed in 1998 to competefor the Chainnanship position for lfakolIjaye on the platform oftbe PDP. I lost thattime not because people were not ready tovote for me but for the propaganda by theopposition party that PDP people killedAbiola and voting for the party was asgood as a vote for the enslavement of theYoruba race (interview conducted byGADA and cited in Gender Audit, 2003:70).

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She contends that it is difficult for any femalecandidate to make a meaningful impact on politics. Onthe issues of politics and money, or what is derisivelycalled Ghana must go in the politics of the country, shehas this to say:

The implication of this is that even if awoman belongs to a group, the positiongiven to that group would be contested formostly by men... a woman who does nothave money to throw around should thinktwice before embarking on the race for anyelective post either at state or federal level.Even ifyou have so much money you feelyou could afford throwing around, youneed to be watchful because most of theseleaders are eager to live on you (ibid).

Conclusively, Mrs. Sanni warns that:

The leaders of the [PDP] at localgovernment level and [Lagos] state areself-centered. They are not interested inpeople who are called capable of makingsome difference in the system or peoplewith experience. What they are after ismoney! money!! money!!!. When anaspirant comes forwards, they charged himor her between NON I00,000 andNGN300,OOO. Some people paid thismoney, yet they were barred from takingpart in the primary elections or they simplyorganized a kangaroo meeting where a new

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candidate not known in the area would beput forward as the party's choice. Forexample, I was victimized by the so-calledleaders for not giving them the requiredmoney demanded by them to enable meto become the party's candidate for theHouse of Representative (ibid).

77

The situation remains the same in the Alliance forDemocracy (AD). The case of Mrs. Bissy Koya, formerLagos State House of Assembly aspirant in the AD, andsome other aspirants who won the party primaries but weresupplanted with men that lost are illustrative of this bias.While narrating her story, Mrs. Koya said that she losther bid because 'party elders' more or less forced her tostep-down for a male candidate, whom she believed wasless popular than her in the constituency. Her storydivulges two things. First, that an individual candidate'sagenda is secondary to party loyalty and interest. Two,that one must have sufficient money to settle politicalIOUs and buy the trust and support of both the party andit's followers. These bitter experiences negate the goalsof the party constitution, especially those that relate towomen's political empowerment as set out in the aimsand objectives of the party. In fact, the 181h stated objectiveof the AD's constitution is concerned with ''the creationof opportunities for, and encouragement of the fulldevelopment ofthe political, social, cultural and economicpotentials ofNigerian women." As good as this objectiveis, it is sad that the AD constitution failed to support femaleleaders or some other form of affinnative action in thecomposition of the party's leadership at various levels.With all of the above, the political parties try to hide theactual reason for the injustice; party leaders later attributed

78 UFAHAMU

the fact that the women would lose in the final electionsas the real motive in replacing them with male candidates.

The All Nigerian People's Party (APP) is not anexception. A good example is the celebrated case of FatiMaidugu. Mrs. Maidugu resigned as a Commissioner forTourism and Culture in Bomo State under controversialcircumstances in the wake of a political disagreementbetween the Governor, Mala Kachalla, the party SenateLeader,Ali Sherrif, and the State House ofAssembly. Mrs.Maidugu claimed that some politicians rallied against herto subdue her growing influence simply because she is awoman.

From the above discussion, it is apparent thatNigerian women have been marginalized and still not wellrepresented in the country's democratic governance. Theexperience in the first half of the Fourth Republic (May29, 1999 to April, 2003) is also discouraging, as thepresentation below illustrates:

(i) Out of 2 seats for Presidency and Vice­Presidency, no woman was elected.

(ii) Out of 109 seats in the Senate, 5 womencontested and 3 women won.

(iii) Out of 360 seats in the House ofRepresentatives, 29 women contestedand 12 women won.

(iv) Out of 72 seats in the Governorshipelections, 2 women contested and I won(Deputy Governor for Lagos State).

(v) Out of 990 seats in the State Houses ofAssembly, 39 women contested and 12won.

(vi) Out of 774 Local Government Chair­manships,46 women contested and 9 won.

BADMUS

(vii) Out of S,SOO Councillorships, 510 womencontested and 143 won.

79

The above represents 1.61% women in the politicaldispensation. The trend was the same in appointive posts.Out of the 49 Ministers and Presidential Advisersappointed in 1999, only 6 were women.

Against the foregoing, one would have expectedan improved performance on the part ofwomen by reasonof registration, especially within the PDP. At any rate, theelection results did not portray the expected outcomes ofimproving women participation both at the federal andstate levels. The second halfof the Fourth Republic (May29,2003- present) features 62 women both at the Nationaland State Houses ofAssembly. Though this representationis a little bit higher than what we had in 1999, this is stillmarginal, as shown in Tables II, ill, and IV (see Appendix).

From Table II, it is clear that Benue state took thelead by having the highest percentase (17.24%) ofwomenelected into the House of Assembly, while KadWl3 statehas the lowest percentage (2.94%). It is very unfortunatethat no woman was elected to the House ofAssembly in12 states: Adamawa, Cross River, Ebonyi, Jigawa, Kana,Kastina, Kebbi, Nasarawa, Oyo, Sokoto, Yobe, andZamfara. The story is the same for the National Assemblyelections as revealed in Table III. Only 3 and 21 womenwere elected into the Upper (Senate) and Lower (Houseof Representatives) legislative chambers, respectively.These figures constitute 2.75% and 5.83% of the total,respectively. Comparatively, Table IV shows that morewomen were elected into the House of Representativesand State Houses of Assembly in the 2003 generalelections than in the previous elections in 1999. At thestate level, only 12 women were elected into the State

80 UFAHAMU

Houses ofAssembly throughout the country in 1999, whilein 2003 the number increased to 38. Tables 'Yo VI, and vndetail female members of the Federal House ofRepresentatives, women Senators, and, women in the StateHouses ofAssembly in 2003 (see Appendix).

As stated earlier, part of the research techniquesutilized for this study is administration of questionnaireswith the sole objective ofunderstanding the voting patternof the electorate and why women failed to be voted for inmost cases. My question is whether this is based on voters'gender attitudes, prejudices and biases, or objectivity. Myfindings are summarized in Table VIII (see Appendix).

From Table VIlI, the responses of the electorateto the question of whether they voted for men or womenvary. In Abuja, 20.7% and 79.3% voted for women andmen respectively. While in Oyo and Lagos states, 31.8%and 68.2% and, 35.1 % and 64.9% voted for women andmen respectively. In summary, the majority of theelectorate voted for men.

As shown in Table LX (see Appendix), in Abuja,out of those who did not vote for women in the last generalelections (2003), 80.2% did so because ofgender attitudes,biases, and, prejudices, while only 19.8% did not votewomen based on objectivity, i.e. the reason for not votingwomen was because they believed the candidates theyvoted for could perform better in office. Similarly, in Oyoand Lagos states, 75.5% and 24.5%; and, 70.3% and29.7% of the electorate based their voting pattern onprejudices, biases, and gender attitudes and objectivity,respectively.

It is apparent from the above statisticalpresentation that the electorates still prefer men to womenin elective positions, hence, this further underscores myargument on the marginalization of women in politics.

BADMUS 81

This is based on the voters' prejudices and biases and thepatriarchal nature of the Nigerian society or what someprefer to call the masculine model of politics. The aboveposition is supported by Okeke Anya:

Rulership from this perspective is also seenas a male affair. This thus gives room forwhat has been termed masculine model ofpolitics. In this system, men dominate thepolitical arena: men formulate the rule ofthe game: and men define the standardsfor evaluation. The ex.istence of this male­dominated model results in either womenrejecting politics altogether or rejectingmale style politics (2003).

Still on the legislature, only Anambra and Ogunstates recorded women Speakers. However, Anambra stateSpeaker, Mrs. Anazodo Eucharia, was finally impeachedas a result of the crisis that rocked the state over GovernorChris Ngige's purported resignation. A female politicianwas elected deputy Speaker of Kwara State House ofAssembly. Hon. Funmi Smith-Tejuosho, the only womanlegislator in the Lagos House of Assembly, was electedthe Majority Leader/ChiefWhip in the AD control House.Though for now, there is still no woman Governor, thePDP was able to sponsor two successful DeputyGovernorship candidates -Alhaja Salimatu Badru andMrs. Erelu Abiola Obada in Ogun and Osun statesrespectively. The AD which set the pace in the first halfof this dispensation with a deputy Governor ended uphaving none. Following from the above, it can be arguedthat nothing has changed significantly between 1999 and2003. This corroborates the official position of the Centre

82 UFAHAMU

for Development, Constitutionalism and Peace Advocacy,a Non Governmental Organisation based in Owerri, Imostate. In its report titled, Women and Politics in NigeriaToday, the organization contends that:

... many well qualified women whoindicated interest to contest for certainelective posts under their parties this yearwere brutally intimidated out, and somewere asked to withdraw. Many of thosewho contested were officially rigged outin preference to male contestants. (CDCP,2003).

Concluding Remarks: Towards Effective Women'sPolitical Participation

In this paper, we have analyzed the dynamics ofwomen's political participation and the various factorsthat have affected the emergence of women politicalleadership in Nigeria focusing on the PDP, the ANPP andthe AD. This paper has argued that in spite of women'snumerical strength by being the majority of voters atelections, and putting up substantial presence at campaignsand rallies as supporters and entertainers, they are rarelyregistered members ofpolitical parties and hold few partyposts. The current developmental tasks require that womenrise beyond the tokenism that they are used to receivingand begin to play significant and effective roles in theprocess of democratizing the polity (Aibangbee, 2003:23). Therefore, for effective women's political leadershipin Nigeria, the following useful suggestions commendthemselves.

BADMUS 83

First, women have the responsibility to makethemselves relevant in this current democratic process.This is a responsibility that calls for the collective effortsof women as a gender category. It has been argued byNzomo (1991) that since no power willingly vacates aposition ofdominance, then women need to struggle hardto realize this goal. In the words ofNzomo drawing fromKenyan experience:

It is common knowledge that in a largelypatriarchal world, there are no cases wheremen have given up without a fight theprivileged positions they have historicallyenjoyed as the authoritative decision­makers in the private and public sphere oftheir countries. While in the privatedomestic sphere, men may concedesharing some decision making roles withwomen in the public, specially the politicalarena, the male gender employs everypossible strategy to keep women. This isthe situation that prevails in Kenya,whereby, even when a woman surmountsall the typical socio-cultural and economicconstraints to participation, she still has toprove to be better than the men candidatesto gain entry into parliament. And if shedoes enter parliament, she is likely to beallocated a position of relativepowerlessness. And being overwhelminglyoutnumbered by men, her loudest voice istreated like a whisper and hence ignored(1991:13).

84 UFAHAMU

Furthermore, since it is only the party that can offeraspirants the platform for contesting an election, womenneed to join political parties where they can participate inparty decision-making processes. They must struggle andbe allowed to take strategic positions within the partiesof their choice to enable them to discharge theirresponsibilities. As stated earlier, women representationat the party executive is very low and it is at this level thatvital decisions are usually taken. One point needs to beraised here. Certainly, no political party will openly declarethat it is not willing to let women in, and mouthing womenempowerment has even become a fad or a faulty indicatorof progress. However, whether a well articulatedideological position exists within the parties forencouraging female inclusion or moving towards parityis another thing. Women have to confront their politicalparticipation frontally. Having said this, there is a strongcase in favour of women joining parties and harnessingthe advantage of demography to negotiate for gender­based power sharing. This will encourage the nominationof women by political parties for a number of positions.

Second, this paper revealed that women havetended to accept their subordinate status and distancethemselves from centres of decision making, thuscontributing to, encouraging, and tolerating this cultureof marginalization. As politicians and ordinary citizens,they have often willingly encouraged men to dictate anddetermine the values of participation in politics,governance and decision-making in general. Theconsequence is that women involved in politics havetended to accommodate themselves within the maleagenda, which does not address issues and policies ofconcern to women, and by extension, to the majority incivil society. This should not be so; even women who are

BADMUS 85

not directly involved in party politics can still influencedecisions because those who are in positions ofauthorityare relations, colleagues, children, husbands, and friendswho can be easily penetrated by women.

Furthermore, by using resources at their disposal,First Ladies can increase women's political participationsignificantly by supporting female aspirants. Presently,the wife ofthe President or wives ofGovernors and LocalGovernment Chairmen have created some measures ofimportance by launching non-governmental projects. Suchinitiatives can be extended to the political arena. Sincethere is no law restricting their involvement in politics,there is no reason why First Ladies cannot utilize theopportunities open to them to promote women's causes.Unless women are prepared to raise funds by themselvesand sponsor credible candidates, women's politicalparticipation will still be hindered by economicconsiderations, hence, sustainable empowerment becomeselusive.

Last but not the least is the implementation ofaffirmative action in order to bring more women into themainstream of politics and political action. There will beno dramatic change in the trend of performance unlessthe political parties adopt gender-based affirmative actionat elections. Affirmative action is the establishment ofquotas for the representation ofwomen in all sectors andat all levels of the political decision-making process andoperation of laws that protect the interests of women.Specifically, this calls for 30% representation of womenin all sections and levels of both elected and appointedpositions, and a reflection ofwomen's 30% representationin all relevant legislation. Experience elsewhere in theworld, particularly in Uganda, Sweden, and South Africabears eloquent testimony to the effectiveness of

86 UFAHAMU

affirmative action as a short-term strategy for acceleratingfemale political participation. Consequently this calls forthe enactment of laws for the implementation ofinternational conventions/declarations signed by Nigeriaon women issues and rights. For example:

I. The Convention for the Elimination ofDiscrimination Against Women (CEDAW,1979,1993)

2. The Nairobi Forward-Looking Strategies(1985)

3. The International Conference on Populationand Development (ICPD, 1994)

4. The Platform for Action of the Fourth WorldConference on Women (Beijing, 1995)

The following are additional recommendations foreffective women political leadership in Nigeria.

a. Women need to develop informative andeducational materials to support advocacyand lobby.

b. Women should seek and support theestablishment of economic/financialempowerment programs.

c. Women in position of authority shouldpromote and support the growth of thewomen's movement in addition to joiningand working with NGOs.

It is the hope of this paper that the abovesuggestions will enhance female political leadership inthe country.

BADMUS

Appendix

87

Table I: Womt:n·rdlIlt:d Planks iD Thrft Polilkal PuUt:s Manj(mloes.Politiml PDP APP MJ

Par:":·

Ensun: gcndc:rs Provide orimtation Provide orientationtquality in prognnune aimed at programme .uncd ..employment and securing greater securing grealersocio-cconomic political awueness political awarenessadvancement and of wom.::n in their of women in theirpromote greater effcctive effcctivewomen involvement panicipation in participation inand effoctive decision-mak~g dt:o:ision-makingparticipation in process at various procc5satvarlous

I ;....litics. levels. levels.Ensun: adequate Ensure that political EnsUl'C tMt political~. """' .... parties andrcprcsenlalion in aU govemrncrlt govemm.::nt!be organs and authorities. al authorities, alinstitutions of the differmt levels, differelllieveis.pany and of illl involve duly involve dulygovernmenl through qualified and qualified andencooraged capable women in capable women inparticipation of higher lldminililntive hiJ'- administrativewomen in elcctoral and policy-mak~g and policy-makingcontcst and through responsibilities. responsibilities.political

I :n""'ntrTM:nls.SourCe!: Extneted from MamfC$loes of the Thn:e Political ParIICS and citedin Simbine. 2003.

Table II: Women EJectedlnlo 100JSlaIe "_sol Assem......Stal~ HlImbuof N"mfHrO/Womu. PUteNage I~) of

COlU'it..~ncit:S £lrcud ElecrdAbia 24 2 833

Atwa-lbom. 26 2 7.69Anambra 30 4 13.33Bauchi 11 I 3.23Ba clsa 24 I 4.17Bcnue 29 S 1724.~ 28 I 351Della 29 2 6.90&lo 24 2 833EJciti 26 I 3.8S.." 24 I 4.11

Com" 24 I 4.11I~ 27 I 3.70

Kaduna 34 I 2.94Ko i 2S 2 8.00

Kwara 24 I 4.17

88 UFAHAMU

TbIII(I)

SourCl!. Ablola Aklyode AfOlabl and Aroglllldade (1003.94)

• • ~ ..... 0' 40 2 '.00Ni ec 21 1 3.70

0" 26 1 3.85Dodo 26 1 3.85Ow. 26 1 3.85

Plateau 24 2 8J)Riven 31 1 3.13T"",. 24 1 4.17

Adamawa 25 0 0Cross RivC1 " 0 0

Eboo i 24 0 0Jigawa 30 0 0K.oo 40 0 0

Kastina l4 0 0Kebbi 24 0 0

Na.ur3wa 24 0 00 31 0 0

S<>I<~o 30 0 0Y<>b< 24 0 0

Zamfara 24 0 0.

Table 01: SullUlW"y of WOn:tm Elected i.Dtothe National ADembJv

HolUu TOMI Number Num"ro/ Percell/off, ('l>JElecred W~IIEJ~(d o/TOtal Ehcted

Senate 109 3 2.1S

House of Reps. 360 21 5.83

Source. Ablola AklyOlJo.Afolabl and Arogundade (2003.95)

Table IV: Comparbon r:J; Wome:n RepN:IImlatlon In 1999 and 2003Gene~1 Elections

PO$ilio" NIUttlH. uf Numbu ofWomm Number uf Wom""A,'Oilab/" EJn:ud and 'l> of Elu"'d and 'l> of

Seals TOlal in /999 TOial in 2ooJ.Prcsidenc , . .. . O~

Senate '09 3 2.7S~ 3 2.75%House of .. 360 " 3.B'l> 21 5.U%Govemonhi 36 . .. . ..

Stale HolUe$ of 990 " 1.21% 38 3.84~

AssemblySm.ru. Abiola AJuyode Afolabl and Arogundade (2003.96)

BADMUS 89

.sO'<n:e. Abiol. Alu)'odc Molab, and Aro/lundadc (2003.100-101)

Tabl~ v: Female Members, FederaJ House 01 tath'es.2GtJEkcIN MtmlHr S,alt' COflSfitueru;y Commjfta Par'V

Hon. Fateyc "'~ AlItumosalEast PDPEniol. and Wcstllcsa

Hon, Mercy Dolu NdokwalUkwuani ChUman PDPAlmona-lsei

Han. Ninimoh Akw. Ikonollni-~

PDP)0110 Ibom ChUman

M.imllnaw Kw~ BatUlCn Kaiama ANPPAda'j

Hon.Oabu;. LagoJ ~orodu ChUman ADAbike Kafayat

Han. Falima/; 'ob< NangereJPotislr.um ANPPT.:Jba.S.

Hon. SaidJI Sanl ""'~. L<u ChUman PDPHon.Ogodo Ebonyi OhlllkwulEbonyi

-~PDP

Pilliencc ChUmanHan. Palricla "'~ Ayedaadellrewolel '-""'" PDP

"'''b J~'"Hon. Awml K~ KirulBebeji ANPP

Namadi Bebeji

Hon. Abiola- Lagos A....-~

ADEdeYllOr Omolara Cnuman

Hon.AoMona Senile VandeikywKonshinaD.bo

Hon. Jumoke Lagos Lagos bland ADThomu

Han. Temi Dob. W..,; PDPHarriman

Hon. Patricia Nasaraw. N_awa Nanh PDPAkwashiki

Hon. Sinla Koji K"'~ Kaduna Sooth ANPPHon. Fanla Baba B_ KagilGubioi CbUman PDP

Shehu Maluman

Hon. Nkectli Abia ObinwaiUgumnagbo ANPPNWllOgWU fOsisioma

Han. Jesse Anambra Onitsna NorthfSouth-~

PDPBelonwu ChUmm

Hon. Ruth Juma; Kadun.a ZanCCNI Kalar/J"a ANPPAnro

Han. T;tilayo Et.iti Ekiti Soulh PDPAk;" Fadahunai

-

90 UFAHAMU

2003sTbleVIW• , -, ena on,N(Jm~ 0{Ekcud Member 5wse Parry

Salalor Daisy Ehanire-Danjuma Edo South PDP

Senator Sar.lk..i-Fowora Kwara Central PDPGbemisola

Senator Veronica AnisuloW<l Ogun Wen PDPSollra. Abll)la Aklyode_Afolabl and Aroguooade (2003.101)

bl 2003IthStatHTbkVIIW• ,'m~

, • • - - ",.Abia Aba Nanh, Uk...... Wellt Hon. Blessing AZLIN

Hon.Gold NWIOIl:URU PDPAkw. Etinam Orkanam M.bel E1im U. PDP100m Eshief I. Eneobon•.

Anambnl Agu.1ll1 Eucharia Anuodo PDPOnitsha South II Taba!s! Antbonia

Njikob Bridget Chkwukaa boN Barr. N"idckl-Ezci we

Bauchl B~ Han. Habilla Sabo PDP5a elsaBcoue Gwer East Mari, AUtoia Amod.u PDP

Gwa- WCSt Hon. V.N. GajirOhimini Hon.C1Iristy Adokwo

Okpokwu Dew. CeciliaMisho Eliubclh

"""'" Gwoza Hon. Aubc Duhie PDPDelta Oshimili Sooth Hon. 01anrewaju. C PDP

Osllimili North Hon. FellI Nwae::tCEd<> 0raI0 West Hon. Esohe Jacob PDP

Elor-Edo Han. Etiubcth I"h<xbro

Ekili Ernn Elili Han. Oluwlfcmi Christiana PDPEo", Udi South Hon. Ene Chikl PDPGombc Kaltungo EaJ.l Hon. zainab Abubakar PDP

A1_I~ Owerri Munki Mrs. Anthonia N aka PDP

Kaduna Chkuna Han. MariaDo a PDPKogi Omala Koogi Han. Rosemary M. PDP

Adavi Ko i Han. Nana DiebuKwara SaoiEssa Hon. Banke Gbadamosi PDPLagos Mushio I FunmiTeju-Smith AD

Amuwo Odofin Bola BadmusNia Mun a Flii Tasala Ibrahim PDP0" Abeokuta South Titi Sodunke ~ni PDPOml, Dndo West n Hon. Priocess Tili Akinmade PDPOsun Ifedayo Hoo. Dr. M",. f"nmi PI>P

Dlaseinde Mustauha

BADMUS 9\

T We VII (• ~I.

Rivers Akuku-TOfU I Mrs. Azlthoftia Membere PDPT..... Karim Lamido n Hon.V· ilIi. Baba PDP

Adamaw. No Female isillorC~, No FcnWc LqisillorRiver.... ; NoFenlc islal:or

1i a..... NoFemale isl&lOrK.oo No Ferrw.lc ishuor

Kurina NofmWc islarorKebbi NoFc:naIe .,...

Nuarawl No Female islMOr0 No FeJNJe islalor

SokOlo No Female islalor

Yob< No Female .....bmfara No Female . """

Vorul Men

79.3"

Source<. AblOl. Akiyodc-Afolabl apd Arogundade (2003.102·I03)

Table VlD: RtSpOUa of VotiDl P.uena 01 tbe Electorate fa AbuJa,o aad I ' Staaa til Niftrial'2OOJ Electlou)

l.oaltiolu VOfN Wo_Abu", 20.7%o Slate J 1.8%

os State 35.1~

Source: Authot'$ fieldwork, Febn.auy 2004

68.2"64....

Table IX: Reuotu lor Not Vot_ lor Womm iD 2003 E&ettioll.UJa,liortS Obj«li~ity ('l» Gender AltillU/u.

Prf!judius and BituQ (..,

Abu'. 19.8'10 802%o State 24.5.. 7505..

La os Stale 29.7% 70'%Source: Author 5 fieldwork. February 2004