Nigerian communities are increasingly convinced that women have what it takes to govern, but say entrenched stigma, sexual harassment, lack of money and political gatekeeping are keeping capable women out of office, according to findings from a community listening tour released this week.
The tour, conducted under the Advancing Women's Political Inclusion in Nigeria project, visited six Local Government Areas — Chikun, Sabon Gari, Kachia, Zangon Kataf and Igabi — gathering roughly 30 stakeholders per session, including traditional rulers, religious leaders, political figures, women leaders and party representatives. Organizers used focus group discussions, key informant interviews, questionnaires and open community conversations to compile the interim report.
"The problem is increasingly not whether women can lead — it is whether the political and social environment will allow them to lead," the report states.
That shift in framing marks a departure from the long-held assumption that communities simply reject women in leadership. Participants across the sessions instead pointed to specific, structural obstacles blocking women's path into politics.
Chief among them is the "Karuwa" stigma — a derogatory Hausa term implying sexual immorality that participants said is routinely used against women who enter politics. The report describes the effect as "devastating," with women's candidacies judged on assumed character and sexuality rather than competence, subjecting them to a standard of scrutiny men do not face.
Participants also disclosed direct experiences of sexual harassment and exploitation in political spaces. One account described a woman being told that political success would require submitting to a man sexually touching her. The report calls such harassment "not simply a private issue" but a direct barrier to women's advancement.
Financial barriers compounded the problem, participants said. Women reported limited access to the money needed to run competitive campaigns, mobilize supporters, travel and engage constituents — turning economic inequality into political inequality.
Political "godfatherism," in which access to opportunity depends on relationships with powerful patrons, was also cited repeatedly. Because women have historically been excluded from those networks, they enter political races already at a disadvantage, the report found.
A further complication, participants said, is that women themselves do not always back women candidates, often mobilizing more readily behind male contenders. The report frames the finding as a challenge to organizers: to move "women should support women" from slogan to sustained political solidarity.
The tour also found low grassroots awareness of Nigeria's Reserved/Special Seats Bill, though participants offered concrete recommendations for its rollout — chief among them, introducing affirmative opportunities for women within political parties before the primary stage, when many women are filtered out of contention before the general election.
Preliminary recommendations arising from the tour include binding affirmative-action targets within party structures, zero-tolerance reporting mechanisms for sexual harassment in politics, expanded campaign-finance access for grassroots and first-time women candidates, and public campaigns to challenge derogatory labeling of women politicians. The report also calls for engaging men as allies and enlisting traditional and religious leaders as champions of women's leadership.
"They are not asking for charity," the report states of the women who took part. "They are asking for fairness, safety, opportunity and representation... to be judged by their competence and integrity, not their gender."
The campaign's message, organizers said, is direct: Women can lead. The question is whether Nigeria will let them.
The findings are preliminary. A fuller quantitative and qualitative analysis, drawing on the complete set of focus groups, interviews and questionnaires, is expected to follow.