GSAI Criticises Deliberate Exclusion of Women from Party Primaries

The Gender Strategy Advancement International (GSAI) has criticised what it called the “deliberate exclusion” of women from ongoing party primaries ahead of the 2027 general election.

Adaora Sydney-Jack, executive director of GSAI, spoke in Abuja on Sunday while addressing journalists on women’s participation in Nigeria’s electoral process.

Sydney-Jack accused political parties of maintaining structures that prevent women from emerging as candidates during primary elections.

She explained that women continue to face barriers such as high nomination fees, political intimidation, monetised delegate systems, and exclusion from negotiations where candidatures are determined.

“The troubling reality is that the primaries currently ongoing across parts of Nigeria have shown little or no meaningful shift from the entrenched norm,” she said.

“Across multiple political spaces, women continue to report being sidelined, pressured to step down for male aspirants, excluded from strategic negotiations, or subtly threatened with political ostracisation should they insist on contesting.”

Sydney-Jack said the exclusion of women from party primaries has been institutional and driven by “opaque consensus arrangements, elite patronage networks and patriarchal power structures within political parties.”

“These realities create a democratic bottleneck that excludes women before the general election even begins,” she added.

The GSAI executive director called for enforceable accountability mechanisms against political parties that fail to meet affirmative action targets for women.

“Democracy cannot rely solely on moral persuasion,” she said.

“Possible sanctions or incentives could include reduced public funding access, mandatory quota compliance, incentives for gender-balanced tickets, or electoral penalties for persistent exclusion.”

Sydney-Jack noted that women, despite constituting a significant percentage of Nigeria’s voting population and grassroots mobilisation structures, are often relegated to ceremonial roles within political parties.

“In Nigeria, women participate massively as mobilisers, campaigners, financiers at grassroots levels, and voting blocs,” she said.

“Yet, when candidacy and power-sharing emerge, women are reduced to ‘women leader’ structures without consequential influence.”

She urged the national assembly, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), and political parties to institutionalise quota systems, transparent primary elections, and reforms that would make party processes more inclusive ahead of the 2027 elections.

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