The 2023 general elections will be the seventh consecutive general election in Nigeria since the reintroduction of democracy in 1999. If conducting the periodic election is the only measure, this is undeniably democratic progress. However, what remains genuinely in doubt is how inclusive and fair this democratic progress has been, especially to women, that make up about 49 per cent of the total population.

The percentage of female candidacy dropped to 10.2% in the 2023 general election from 12.9% in the 2019 general elections. Despite the fact that the number of new female registrants that joined the updated voter register in 2023 after the Continuous Voter Registration process is higher than the male voters.

KDI, as part of her Advancing Women’s Political Participation in Nigeria Project, sieved the final list of candidate list through the gender lens to generate insight for gender advocates, CSO groups and Nigerians on the need to open the democratic space the more for females.