Kwara, Kaduna and Edo States have been ranked as the top three states in Nigeria with 35 percent women occupying cabinet positions in government, keeping in line with the National Gender Policy which stipulates 35 percent Affirmative Action in Nigeria since 2006.
The report was released by InvictusAfrica, which measured Women’s Representation in African Politics (WRAPs) with a focus on Nigeria State Cabinets between 2019 to 2023.
In the report, the Kwara and Kaduna emerged top two All Progressives Congress (APC) states as Kwara came first with 9 out of 16 positions, representing 56% of appointees while Kaduna occupied second position with 9 out of 17 cabinet positions, representing 53% of appointees.
Edo State emerged as the third and only the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) controlled state with 35% representation in government, with 7 women appointees out of 20 cabinet positions, representing 35% of appointees.
InvictusAfrica said the cabinet positions considered comprise commissioners, Head of Service and Secretary to the State Government.
The report reads in part, “Some States have more ministries than cabinet positions. Thus, some Ministries are jointly led by one Commissioner. Where more than one state has the same percentage, ranking is alphabetically arranged.
“Kwara State ranks first and is the only State with a majority women cabinet and Kebbi State ranks last and is the only state with no female cabinet member.”
According to the report, the states least ranked are Kebbi with 0 women from 11 positions; Zamfara with one woman from 19 cabinet positions; Sokoto with 2 women from 24 cabinet positions and Yobe with 2 women from 22 cabinet positions.
