Ninety-six per cent of women who contested for various positions in the just concluded 2023 general elections lost to their male counterparts, Daily Trust reports.

A total of 1,553 women were on the ballot for the presidential, governorship, national and state assemblies’ elections held on February 25 and March 18, this year.

Out of a total of 15,307 candidates who contested under the 18 registered political parties during the 2023 general elections, males constituted 13,754, which represented 89.8 per cent while the 1,553 female candidates represented 10.1 per cent. 

The analysis of the results declared by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) showed that only 72 women got elected at federal and state levels, while 1,487 lost.

These figures included Kebbi and Adamawa states, where supplementary elections were held on April 15.

While Kebbi had no female contestant in the just concluded supplementary election, Aishatu Binani, of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Adamawa lost to the PDP candidate, Ahmadu Fintiri, who has Professor Kaletapwa Farauta, a female as running mate.

A breakdown of the 72 women that won elections showed that  seven of them were elected as  deputy governors; Dr Hadiza Balarabe(Kaduna), Josephine Piyo (Plateau), Dr Akon Eyakenyi(Akwa Ibom),Dr Ngozi Nma Odu(Rivers), Engr Noimot Salako Oyedele(Ogun), Patricia Obila(Ebonyi) and Professor Kaletapwa Farauta (Adamawa).

Seventeen of the women made it to the National Assembly – three in the Senate and 14 in the House of Representatives.

In states, a total of 48 women made it to the various state houses of assembly.

Binta Umar, the lone female governorship candidate of the Action Alliance (AA) in Jigawa State, blamed the abysmal performance of female candidates to lack of cooperation by fellow women.

Binta was defeated in the March 18 governorship election by Malam Umar Namadi of the APC. Though she was said to have joined the PDP weeks before the election, her name was on the ballot.

In an interview with Daily Trust, she attributed the failure of female candidates in the general elections to lack of cooperation of women, adding that “the population of women is enough to give you the winning votes”.

She noted that money is an integral part of politics “if you have money, you win elections, if you don’t have money you will lose no matter how you try”.