The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has since released the final list of the presidential candidates of different political parties for the 2023 presidential election. Only one female presidential aspirant was named on the list. Before then, eleven women had indicated interest in running the race. But they were either voted out or chose to step down for their stronger male candidates during the primaries.
Politics in Nigeria has been male-dominated since the history of the country. Women hardly ever had the opportunity to campaign for major positions. Only a few had dared, especially since 1999. Yet, there has been no success so far. But it hasn’t stopped some women from trying to break the jinx. Keep reading to know Nigeria’s female presidential aspirants since 1999.
Table of Content hide 1Nigeria’s female presidential aspirant for 2023 1.11. Ojei Princess Chichi 1.22. Uju Ohanenye 1.33. Benedicta Egbo 1.44. Khadijah Okunnu-Lamidi 1.55. Ify Oforkansi 1.66. Olivia Diana Teriela 1.77. Angela Johnson 1.88. Carol Nwosu 1.99. Patience Key 1.1010. Ibinabo Joy Dokubo 1.1111. Nonye Ezeanyaeche 2Top 10 Nigeria’s female presidential aspirants since 1999 2.11. Sarah Jibril 2.22. Mojisola Adekunle Obasanjo 2.33. Ebiti Ndok 2.44. Remi Sonaiya 2.55. Oby Ezekwesili 2.66. Olufunmilayo Adesanya-Davis 2.77. Elishama Rosemary Ideh 2.88. Eunice Atuejide 2.99. Princess Oyenike Roberts 2.1010. Adeline Iwuagwu-Emihe 3ConclusionNigeria’s female presidential aspirant for 2023
As earlier stated, eleven Nigerian women indicated interest in running for the presidential race in the 2023 elections. However, only one female aspirant made INEC’s final list of 18 presidential aspirants. Below are the 11 female presidential aspirants for the 2023 elections in Nigeria.
1. Ojei Princess Chichi
Ojei Princess Chichi is the only female presidential aspirant on INEC’s list. She will be contesting under the flagship of the Allied People’s Movement (APM). Born in Delta State, Ojei is a corporate finance specialist and the executive director of Nuel Ojei Holdings. She got the ticket after former aspirant and national chairman of APM, Yusuf Mamman Dantalle, pulled out of the race. Dantalle said he decided to step down after extensive consultation with the party leaders with the conviction that the change would not affect the chances of the party winning the 2023 presidential elections. Ojei has been described by Business Day as “an Amazon in midst of men of timber and calibre.”
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2. Uju Ohanenye
Uju Ohanenye made history as the first female presidential aspirant of the All Progressives Congress (APC) when she declared her intention to contest for the 2023 presidential elections under the platform. However, she announced she was stepping down for Asiwaju Ahmed Bola Tinubu, who eventually won the APC primaries.
3. Benedicta Egbo
Canada-based professor of education, Benedicta Egbo, joined the presidential race under the platform of the National Rescue Movement. She stated that her mission was “to correct the mess past leaders have plunged Nigeria into.” Egbo said Nigeria was ripe for a female president, and her priority if elected would be “an upward review of workers’ salaries and security, among others.”
4. Khadijah Okunnu-Lamidi
Khadijah Okunnu-Lamidi was the first woman to declare her interest in contesting for the office of the president in Nigeria’s 2023 presidential elections. She is also the daughter of former Federal Works Commissioner Lateef Olufemi Okunnu. Okunnu-Lamidi joined the Social Democratic Party (SDP) and said if she were eventually elected, her government would run on five pillars – industrialisation, women inclusion, education and innovation; governance and welfare; and law and security.
5. Ify Oforkansi
Dr Ify Oforkansi is an academic and a cleric who declared her ambition to become the president of Nigeria by contesting under the platform of the African Democratic Party (ADC). Like other female presidential hopefuls, Oforkansi believes only a woman can rescue Nigeria from its current situation. She said if elected, she would run her government under a nine-point agenda, which includes education, reforming the power sector, boosting raw materials, tackling insecurity, improved and mechanised agriculture, which would take the country out of the doldrums.
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6. Olivia Diana Teriela
Olivia Diana Teriela was the only female presidential aspirant that contested in the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) presidential primaries. She paid N6 million for the expression of interest and the presidential nomination form at a subsidized rate of N1 million. However, she failed to win the primaries after losing to the eventual winner, Atiku Abubakar.
7. Angela Johnson
A female presidential aspirant of the All Progressive Grand Alliance (APGA), Angela Johnson, revealed that God told her that she would be Nigeria’s first female President in 2023. In addition to her revelation, the Abia State-born UK-based cleric promised to fight insecurity digitally with modern technologies, fight corruption and make all roads across the country motorable within three months if voted into power.
8. Carol Nwosu
Carol Nwosu is Nigeria’s female presidential aspirant who joined the African Action Congress (AAC). She preaches unity and believes she can unlock Nigeria’s potential and make the country an African superpower.
9. Patience Key
Patience Ndidi Key was the female presidential aspirant of the People’s Redemption Party (PRP) for the 2023 elections. She declared a three-point agenda which includes peace, equity, and wealth creation.
10. Ibinabo Joy Dokubo
Ibinabo Joy Dokubo was another female presidential aspirant of APC. She declared education and security as her priorities if elected as president of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
11. Nonye Ezeanyaeche
Nonye Ezeanyaeche would have made history as the first female and oldest president of Nigeria if she had been elected. She is 102 years old which raised a lot of eyebrows when she declared her interest in contesting for Nigeria’s number one position. For Ezeanyaeche, who is the founder of the Voice for Senior Citizens of Nigeria, “energy is God-given” and she didn’t have to move around to do what is supposed to be done.
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Top 10 Nigeria’s female presidential aspirants since 1999
1. Sarah Jibril
Sarah Nnadzwa Jibril is Nigeria’s first female presidential candidate at the primaries and main elections. She contested four times but didn’t win. The Kwara State-born politician first contested for the presidency in 1992 under the SDP, but placed fourth in the primary election. She returned to the polls in 1998 under the flagship of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) but lost the primaries to Chief Olusegun Obasanjo.
In 2003, Jibril defected from PDP to Progressive Action Congress to become the first woman to represent a registered party and be a presidential candidate but lost to Obasanjo again. She returned to PDP and contested again in the 2007 presidential primaries but lost after getting a total of four votes. Her last attempt was in the 2011 presidential primary elections where she ran an underfunded campaign compared to her counterparts. She finished second behind Goodluck Jonathan, who eventually emerged as Nigeria’s president.
2. Mojisola Adekunle Obasanjo
Mojisola Adekunle Obasanjo was a major in the Nigerian Army and ex-wife of former President Olusegun Obasanjo. She founded the party Masses Movement of Nigeria in 1998 and later ran for presidency under the party’s flag in 2003. In addition, she was the only female contender in the presidential elections of 2007. Adekunle-Obasanjo died on June 4, 2009, at her daughter-Adetokunbo’s residence in Ikoyi Lagos after a brief illness.
3. Ebiti Ndok
Ebiti Ndok-Jegede is a female Nigerian politician who began her career as a practicing nurse at the University College Hospital, Ibadan. She was also the only woman to contest in the 2011 presidential elections under the platform of the United National Party for Development (UNDP). However, she received a total of 98,262 votes in the elections.
4. Remi Sonaiya
Oluremi Comfort Sonaiya is a French Language and Applied Linguistics professor and a Nigerian politician. However, she retired from her position at Obafemi Awolowo University and joined politics in 2010. She registered with KOWA Party, where she was voted its National Public Relations Officer. Sonaiya contested for the presidency under KOWA Party platform in the 2015 presidential elections. She polled a total of 13,076 votes and finished in 12th place.
5. Oby Ezekwesili
Obiageli “Oby” Ezekwesili is a Nigerian economic policy expert, an advocate for transparency, accountability, good governance, and human capital development, a humanitarian, and an activist. She is also a former vice president for the World Bank’s Africa region, co-founder and founding director of Transparency International, co-founder of the #BringBackOurGirls movement.
Ezekwesili also served twice as Minister of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. In 2019, she contested for the office of the president of Nigeria under the platform of the Allied Congress Party of Nigeria (ACPN). However, on January 24, 2019, Ezekwesili unexpectedly withdrew from the race due to a clash of values and visions with her political party. INEC announced it was too late for anyone to withdraw since the ballot papers had already been printed at the time.
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6. Olufunmilayo Adesanya-Davis
Olufunmilayo Adesanya-Davis is a Nigerian Professor and politician. She was a presidential candidate of the Mass Action Joint Alliance (MAJA) during the 2019 general elections. In January 2022, she declared her intention to contest in the 2023 presidential elections under the platform of PDP but didn’t even contest in the primaries.
7. Elishama Rosemary Ideh
Dr. Elishama Rosemary Ideh is an evangelist, author, social crusader, entrepreneur, philanthropist, public figure/speaker, media personality, and political activist. She was the female presidential aspirant on Alliance for a New Nigeria (ANN) platform during the 2019 presidential elections.
8. Eunice Atuejide
Eunice Uche Julian Atuejide is a Nigerian businesswoman, lawyer, and politician. She founded the National Interest Party (NIP) in 2018 and became the party’s presidential candidate in the 2019 elections.
9. Princess Oyenike Roberts
Princess Oyenike Oyedele Roberts is a US-based Nigerian politician who declared for the presidency of Nigeria under the platform of PDP in the 2019 presidential elections. Her campaign slogan was ‘Hope 2019′ in which she pledged to fight against corruption in Nigeria. However, she took most of her campaign to the diaspora and couldn’t make it in the primaries.
10. Adeline Iwuagwu-Emihe
Adeline Iwuagwu-Emihe is an American-trained political administrator. She declared her intention to contest in the 2019 presidential elections under the platform of PDP. During her campaign, Iwuagwu-Emihe raised a 10-point transformational and developmental agenda she would vigorously pursue if given the presidential mandate.
Conclusion
Nigerian women are not anywhere close to winning the presidential election. From what has been listed above, there’s no doubt that there are women competent enough to sit in the presidential seat. Time is coming when that day will come to pass. For now, Nigerian women should stop cheerleading their male counterparts in politics and support their fellow women to win the presidential elections.
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