INEC Chairman Mahmood Yakubu champions women’s inclusion in politics, urging reforms for greater female representation and party leadership

Speaking on Wednesday during an advocacy visit by the Women’s Collective Forum to INEC headquarters in Abuja, Yakubu highlighted the commission’s progress and challenges in gender representation.

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The visit, led by Ambassador Nkoyo Toyo, came just days after the world marked the United Nations International Day of Democracy, themed this year: “Achieving Gender Equality: From Voice to Action.”

Yakubu revealed that women now head 12 out of 22 INEC departments and directorates, representing 55 per cent of leadership at headquarters, alongside many serving as Administrative Secretaries across states.

“INEC is an equal-opportunities institution,” he said. “Across the Federation, women continue to hold substantive leadership roles within our structure.”

The chairman pointed to the commission’s Department of Gender and Inclusivity and its regularly updated gender policy as evidence of institutional backing for gender equity.

INEC, he added, has consistently urged political parties to elevate women within their leadership structures.

“Many parties have responded positively, although much work needs to be done,” Yakubu admitted.

On the issue of women’s representation in elective offices, Yakubu called for affirmative action through constitutional and legal reforms, stressing that other jurisdictions had achieved significant progress this way.

“The most effective way of ensuring greater representation for women and other marginalised groups in legislative assemblies is affirmative action backed by law.

This requires amending sections of the 1999 Constitution and the Electoral Act 2022,” he said.

He noted that INEC had already supported legislative efforts toward these amendments during a retreat with the National Assembly’s Joint Committee on Electoral Matters earlier this year.

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Yakubu assured the Women’s Collective Forum that the commission would continue to work closely with them, describing their advocacy as vital to deepening Nigeria’s democracy.