Ahead of 2023 general elections, a Kwara State based non-governmental organisation, Brain Builder Youth Development Initiative (BBYDI) has enjoined voters to prioritise electing female candidates across party lines in the state.

A statement issued in Ilorin and signed by the Executive Director of BBYDI, Mr. Abideen Olasupo, and made available to newsmen alongside the data of female candidates in Kwara State, said that the gesture would go a long way in addressing the gender inequality in various positions in the state.

The group, in the data tagged “Is your Political Party giving Her a Space?” stated that women constituted approximately 15 per cent which represents 60 out of 409 total candidates contesting in 2023 elections across party line in the state.

It added that “our investigation showed that 60 out of 409 candidates, which is 15 per cent, are female with 349 male candidates. Allied Peoples Movement (APM) and Zenith Labour Party (ZLP) have the highest number of female candidates which is 10, followed by Action Alliance (AA), Labour Party (LP), Action Democratic Party (ADP); 7 candidates each, All Progressives Congress (APC) (4), African Democracy Congress (ADC) (3), New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP) (2), Accord (2), All Peoples Party (2) while People’s Democratic Party (PDP), Social Democratic Party (SDP), National Rescue Movement (NRM) and Young Progressives Party (YPP) have the lowest with one candidate each”.

The statement noted that the organisation’s Space for Her Fellowship that held earlier in 2022 has changed the trends of women participation in politics drastically in the state, demanding that women should be given all the support they need to participate and win elections.

The statement pointed out that “BBYDI” has reshaped the trends of women participation in politics drastically in Kwara State through the flagship of her “Space for Her Fellowship” organised earlier this year.

“A breakdown of INEC’s report also showed that about 71 per cent of the newly registered voters across the country are youths. Of the 12.2 million newly registered voters, about 8.7 million are between the ages of 18 and 34 while about 2.4 million are between ages 35 and 49. Those between ages 50 and 69 are about 856, 017 while about 127, 541 are over 70.

“The statistics also showed that more women registered during the latest CVR than men. While 6,224,866 are women, 6,074,078 are men. Therefore, female candidates should be supported come 2023 to foster inclusiveness.”

The statement, however, said that “lastly, as the campaign progresses, we expect a violence-free campaign devoid of hate speech and call on the actors to respect the unity of the state and make the campaigns issue biased.”