Press Statement
Distinguished Leaders of All Political Parties under the InterParty Advisory Council (IPAC)
Leaders of the Ruling Party in the State (All Progressive Congress)
The Executive Governor of Ekiti State
The First Lady of Ekiti State
Members of the Press,
Colleagues, and Fellow Citizens,
The coalition of Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) working to advance Women’s Political
Participation (WPP), alongside women-led groups and Advocates in Ekiti State, issued this
statement at a decisive moment in the lead-up to the 2027 General Elections.
As political parties continue the processes of selecting candidates through primaries or
consensus arrangements into the national and state parliaments (i.e. Senate, House of
Representatives, and State House of Assembly) in line with the Electoral Act 2026, the
foundations of representation are currently being laid. This stage is not merely procedural, it is
determinative. It defines who gets the opportunity to contest, and ultimately, who gets to lead
and represent the voices of women.
Though Nigeria has long committed to inclusive governance and 35 percent Affirmative Action
for women as a signatory to numerous International treaties and the enactment of National and
Sub-national laws and policies including the National Gender Policy domesticated in Ekiti state
as the Gender and Development Policy 2011 and the Ekiti State Equal Opportunities Law 2013.
There remains a disconnect between national and/or state commitments and political parties’
practice which has mirrored low women’s emergence in leadership positions through elections.
Structural barriers, including opaque candidate selection processes, unequal access to party
structures, election financing constraints, and deeply entrenched gendered power dynamics –
continue to limit women’s participation on equal terms.
Recently however, the joint call for the passage of the Women Reserved Seats Bill through the
constitutional reform in a nation-wide advocacy and mobilisation as a temporary measure to fix
the women’s representation deficits at parliaments continued to gain traction among many other
initiatives including the recent stakeholders’s interface organised by the First Lady of Ekiti State
HE. Dr. Olayemi Oyebanji on the subject in February 2026.
We call on political parties across Ekiti state through the Interparty Advisory Council (IPAC)
particularly the ruling All Progressive Congress (APC) under the able leadership of HE. Biodun
Abayomi Oyebanji to take deliberate and concrete steps toward advancing women’s political
representation through election.
This is a call to ensure that women are given fair, transparent,
and genuine opportunities to contest, compete, and emerge as candidates within party structures
and electoral processes. Beyond the State Houses of Assembly, women must also be accorded
serious consideration for positions in the House of Representatives and the Senate, rather than
being sidelined in political negotiations, consensus arrangements, and power-sharing discussions.
The Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 guarantees every citizen the right to
vote and be voted for, and this constitutional right must be reflected in practice, not merely in
principle.
Women are not only voters; they are critical stakeholders in nation-building,
democratic governance, and sustainable development. The time has come for intentional
inclusion and meaningful representation of women in politics, beyond symbolic gestures and
tokenism. Political parties in Ekiti State must demonstrate genuine commitment to inclusive
democracy by creating enabling environments that support and promote women’s leadership and
participation.
Ekiti State has made significant progress that requires strong political will and
political parties’ commitment to maintain the giant stride.
“When women are excluded at the point of nomination, democracy itself is already compromised
before a single vote is cast.” Women’s political participation cannot be achieved without
transforming how candidates emerge.
Political parties remain the primary gatekeepers of democratic participation. The extent to which
they create inclusive processes will determine whether the current 26 percent women’s
representation at the Ekiti State 7th Assembly will be surpassed or maintained in the 8th
Assembly.
This will also determine whether the 35 percent benchmark remains rhetorical or
becomes a lived reality.
WPP Press Statement, Ekiti State
We therefore call on all political parties in Ekiti State to:
● Institutionalize clear and inclusive guidelines for candidate selection, including where
consensus arrangements are adopted
● Set and publicly commit to the 35 percent affirmative action targets for women’s
representation across Senate, House of Representatives, and State Assembly candidacies
● Ensure that internal processes are free from discrimination, intimidation, and exclusion
We further call on political activists, electoral stakeholders, government institutions, and the
public to hold political parties accountable to the principles of inclusion, fairness, and democratic
integrity. Achieving increased representation of women in the Ekiti State Assembly from the
current 23 percent to 35 percent representation is not a symbolic aspiration — it is a democratic
necessity. A political system that systematically restricts women’s access at the point of entry
undermines not only gender equality, but the legitimacy of governance itself.
To women across Ekiti State: your leadership is essential to the future of our democracy. This is
the time to step forward, organize, and contest. The credibility of the 2027 elections will not only
be measured by outcomes, but by how inclusive the process is from the very beginning. It is time
for our elections to be credible, free, fair, inclusive and conclusive for the good of all the citizens.
The time for deliberate action is now.
Signed:
Coalition of CSOs on Women’s Political Participation (WPP) in Ekiti State
● Women Political Participation (WPP), Working Group
● The New Generation Girls and Women Development Initiative (NIGAWD)
● Balm in Gilead Foundation for Sustainable Development (BIGIF)
● Ekiti Women Arise (EWA)
● Ekiti Women Advocacy Team (EWAT)
● Gender Mobile Initiative (GMI)
● Gender Relevance Initiative Promotion (GRIP)
● Foundation for Excellent Living and Development (FELAD)
● Disability not a Barrier Initiative (DINABI)
● Media for Human Development Foundation
● Kids and Teens Resources Centre (K&TRC)
● Gender Advocacy Network (GANnet)
● Rays of Hope Foundation for Sustainable Development
● Lighthouse Charity and Legacy Foundation
● Society for Women Against AIDs in Africa Nigeria (SWAAN)
● Brain Builders Youth Development Initiative (BBYDI)
● Haven of Hope Foundation for Health and Community Development.
● National Council of Women Societies (NCWS)
WPP Press Statement, Ekiti State
● International Federation of Women Lawyers (FIDA)
• Women in Politics Forum ( WiPF)