United Nations Women yesterday raised concerns over low female political representation ahead of Nigeria’s 2027 general election.

The UN Women Country Representative to Nigeria and ECOWAs Beatrice Eyong during the third session of the Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment Coordination Mechanisms Webinar Series said the 2027 election would represent a defining moment for Nigeria to address exclusion of women from governance and political leadership.

She said the issue was no longer about the competence or qualification, stressing that many Nigerian women had continued to demonstrate excellence and make impacts locally and globally.

According to her, Nigeria has more than enough capable women to drive development not only within the country but across Africa. “The question before us is not whether Nigerian women deserve representation.

That one is settled,” she said. Eyong described the current level of women’s representation in governance as alarming. “Women currently occupy only four out of 109 Senate seats and 16 out of 360 seats in the House of Representatives in the 10th National Assembly,” she said.