Ahead of the 2027 poll, the Executive Director of the Strengthening Her Aspiration for Political Engagement (SHAPE) project, Ifenla Oligbinde, has canvassed the support of the political elites and critical stakeholders to ensure that women win more elective seats at the poll.
Speaking to The Guardian on the sidelines of the summit convened by SHAPE, themed: “Attaining 35 per cent Affirmative Action Towards Strengthening Women’s Agency for political leadership”, she insisted that money is not the sole determinant for winning election by women.
She supported her assertion by referring to former President Goodluck Jonathan of Nigeria and former President Barack Obama of the United States of America (USA), who were elected to office primarily due to the support of key stakeholders.
Oligbinde, the Convener of the event attended by various stakeholders comprising politicians, rights activists, and young women, acknowledged that in the Nigerian electoral system, from top to bottom, elections cannot be won without money.
“When stakeholders, gatekeepers, policy makers, decision makers, when they see a woman who has capacity, who is clear-sighted, who is smart, who has integrity and who is accountable, and they decide to support such a woman, it makes things easier.
“So it’s that support that matters. It makes things easier, so that’s the first step. It’s the system that we need, not money first. Once you have the support system, every other thing will follow,” she noted.
“Let’s not even talk about Obama, who is well known to us. If we look at former President Jonathan, I believe it was by recommendation. Before then he was not really known in political structure or system before he came into politics, so I believe that the same thing can also happen.”
