By Onyeanya Ebere Immaculata
The Women and Youth for Nigeria Alliance (WAY4Nigeria), has called for urgent reforms to end the marginalisation of women and youth in politics, warning that exclusion threatens Nigeria’s democracy.
At a press conference in Abuja, the coalition criticised political parties, institutions, and the media for sidelining over 70% of the population from leadership.
Chairman Victor Terhemba described the trend as “deliberate exclusion masked as procedure,” noting that women hold only 3.7% of Senate seats and 3.9% of House of Representatives seats, while youth candidacy has dwindled due to prohibitive nomination costs.
WAY4Nigeria also presented findings from a post-2023 election study linking misinformation, party bias, and harmful social norms to exclusion.
Terhemba accused the media of amplifying gendered and age-based disinformation that undermines trust in democratic institutions.
The group urged the National Assembly to pass the Reserved Seats for Women Bill, alongside constitutional and electoral reforms to open up candidacy and reduce political violence.
It warned that civil society efforts alone cannot fix the crisis.
“The exclusion of women and youth is not just their issue, it is a national crisis. No nation can achieve stability or development while shutting out the majority of its citizens from leadership,” Terhemba said.
