Mobilizing Nigerian Voters

Jan. 15, 2007—In April, Nigerians will have their third chance to cast a presidential vote since the country emerged from military rule in 1999. Elections also will be held for national, state and local assemblies.

The election provides a critical opportunity for women to increase their political voice in Nigeria.

Just over 42 million people voted in the last presidential election, but women’s political participation has lagged. In regions such as the northeastern part of the country, women received voting rights later than men and still face social and cultural barriers that have excluded their political leadership.

CEDPA/Nigeria is mobilizing women voters to increase their turnout in the April elections and help put women’s concerns on the election agenda. This builds on more than a decade of work to advance women’s political participation in Nigeria.

CEDPA will hold a Feb. 13 Women’s Summit in Maiduguri, Borno State to advance women’s participation in the upcoming election. The Summit will bring together government officials, women leaders, grassroots groups with broad community reach, and key religious leaders from the Christian and Muslim faiths.

The Summit will include the goal of making safe motherhood an election demand.

Because northeastern Nigeria has the highest rate of maternal mortality in Nigeria, the issue is of critical importance to women in the region. By linking women with opportunities to demand action on maternal health, CEDPA and its partners will educate women on why their vote matters.

And, by increasing the participation of women voters in the election, political candidates are more likely to promise increased action on issues such as maternal health.

Following the Summit, CEDPA will lead strategies to mobilize women voters through partnerships with community activists and women’s organizations. This strategy builds on CEDPA’s work in the 1999 and 2003 Nigerian elections.

In 1999, CEDPA and its partners mobilized and registered more than 750,000 people to vote—nearly a third of all the country’s voters. (Read more about CEDPA’s 100 Women’s Groups strategy in Nigeria).

In 2003, CEDPA/Nigeria led a consortium that deployed 4,620 election monitors in 19 of Nigeria's 36 states. The involvement of the Federation of Muslim Women's Association of Nigeria and the Muslim League for Accountability represented the first time that a Muslim or a women's organization had managed a large-scale monitoring effort in Nigeria.

CEDPA/Nigeria’s 2007 Northeast Women’s Summit is funded by the Joint Donor Basket Fund. Contributors to the fund include the Canadian International Development Agency, European Commission, UK Department for International Development and the United Nations Development Programme.

Read more about CEDPA’s work to improve women’s leadership and advance democracy in Nigeria.

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