ElectHER, NWTF LAUNCH GENDER SITUATION ROOM AHEAD OF ANAMBRA GOVERNORSHIP ELECTION

By Chidinma Olivia Patrick, Awka

In the lead-up to the 2025 Anambra Governorship Election, women’s political participation has taken centre stage as ElectHER, in collaboration with the Nigerian Women’s Trust Fund (NWTF), unveiled the Gender Situation Room, a strategic initiative aimed at promoting gender-inclusive, transparent, and credible elections.

The official unveiling took place at the Radisson Hall in Awka, where representatives from civil society, the media, election observers, and development partners gathered to witness what many described as a “milestone in women’s political inclusion.”

In her welcome address, Ibijoke Faborode, Chief Executive Officer of ElectHER, warmly welcomed participants, describing the Gender Situation Room as a “collaborative innovation under Component 5A of the EU-SDGN Programme”, Nigeria’s largest democracy and governance support programme, funded by the European Union.

According to her, the Gender Situation Room represents a joint effort between ElectHER and the Nigerian Women’s Trust Fund (NWTF) to observe the entire electoral process from a gender-responsive perspective, covering pre-election, election day, and post-election activities.

She explained that the project leverages both organisations’ existing election infrastructure and technology platforms, ElectHER’s Election Hub and Hernalytics, and NWTF’s Gender and Election Watchroom (GEW) and GEW App.

Through this collaboration, a total of 226 field observers will be deployed across all 21 Local Government Areas (LGAs) of Anambra State, supported by a joint Data Centre for coordinated observation, analysis, and rapid reporting during the election period.

Faborode said the initiative is driven by one goal; to strengthen women’s participation, electoral transparency, and inclusivity. She also commended the European Union, whose support through the EU-SDGN Programme made the partnership possible.

Speaking on the field deployment strategy, Vaneza Udegbe Gregory, Programme Lead at NWTF, highlighted the organization’s flagship Gender and Election Watch (GEW) initiative, which forms part of the EU-SDGN-supported Election Observation Hub.

Under the GEW initiative, 100 trained stationary observers will be deployed across the 21 LGAs of Anambra State. The observers, selected through random sampling, will submit real-time data via the GEW App, enabling instant verification and analysis.

To complement field efforts, NWTF has established a fully equipped GEW Situation Room in Awka, staffed with 10 experts drawn from media, academia, civil society, and election monitoring sectors. The team will analyse field reports, identify emerging trends, and issue timely updates throughout election day.

However, Udegbe noted that the pre-election environment revealed several gender-related challenges. These include low representation of women on candidate lists (only two female governorship candidates and six deputy governorship candidates), persistent stereotypes, gender-based harassment, and weak enforcement of internal party quotas.

She recommended strengthening INEC’s gender-sensitive electoral guidelines, institutionalizing gender quotas, reducing nomination fees for women, and promoting inclusive political discourse through media engagement.

On ElectHER’s part, Zigwai Tagwai, Programme Lead for Democracy and Governance, revealed that the organisation will deploy 126 observers, including 120 field observers and 6 collation observers covering five LGA Collation Centers and the State Collation Center.

She explained that the deployment strategy adopts a quantitative and stratified sampling approach to ensure demographic and geographic representation across Anambra’s over 5,000 polling units.

Observers will collect gender-sensitive data through structured datasets for accuracy and consistency. The data will feed directly into Hernalytics, ElectHER’s election-technology platform that aggregates and visualizes real-time information.

A dedicated Data Management Team will continuously analyse these inputs throughout election day. Tagwai encouraged stakeholders to visit the Gender Situation Room from poll opening to collation close to observe the process firsthand.

ElectHER will also collaborate with other EU-SDGN partners to deliver a mid-day briefing and issue a Preliminary Statement at the end of voting.

Tagwai further announced the inclusion of two Fellows from ElectHER’s Election Fellows-in-Residency Programme, Amy Gaman, a Security Analyst Fellow, and Aondona Paul Iorsue, an Election Analyst Fellow, whose expertise, she said, adds depth to the analytical mission and underscores ElectHER’s commitment to nurturing election research professionals.

Presenting highlights from the Pre-Election Assessment Report, ElectHER’s CEO, Ibijoke Faborode, emphasized that “without credible data and consistent gender mainstreaming, democratic development is only half-achieved.”

Over the past six months, ElectHER monitored the political climate in Anambra State, producing periodic insights shared with INEC, security agencies, and civil society organisations.

ElectHER’s pre-assessment report, conducted between September 3 and October 25, 2025, surveyed 603 women across Anambra’s 21 LGAs to gauge voter sentiment. The findings show strong readiness to participate, with 92.8% of respondents owning their PVCs and 82.8% intending to vote. However, concerns about security (63.6%), unemployment (51.1%), and healthcare (43.7%) remain high. While 65.3% fear election-related violence and 39.7% distrust the process, most respondents expressed optimism; 93% said they would vote for a competent female candidate, despite 58.1% noting low visibility of women in the race.

The report’s Preliminary RAG Security Assessment categorised 14 LGAs as high-risk, 5 as moderate-risk, and 2 as low-risk, combining incident reports with voter sentiment data.

Despite national declines in women’s representation, Faborode noted that Anambra State remains a model of progress, being the only state to have produced a female governor, the highest number of female senators (four, tied with Lagos), and six female federal ministers across different administrations.

She also celebrated the record 37.5% representation of women as deputy governorship candidates in the 2025 election, calling it “a continuation of Anambra’s legacy of pioneering women’s leadership in governance.”

During the interactive session, a journalist urged the organisations to “think futuristically,” focusing not only on the present election but on how to sustain women’s mobilization, mentorship, and capacity building for future contests.

Responding, Faborode stressed that capacity development and resource support remain crucial to ensure women are well-prepared for leadership roles. “Every woman who steps forward deserves to be celebrated,” she said. “We must continue to build the pipeline so that more women don’t just contest, but win.”

In her closing remarks, Vaneza Udegbe Gregory reminded participants that the 2025 Anambra Governorship Election is “more than a ballot; it is a litmus test of Nigeria’s commitment to inclusive democracy.”

She urged stakeholders to take deliberate action to prevent women’s exclusion from political spaces.

“Political parties must open their doors, the media must amplify women’s voices, and institutions must turn rhetoric into action,” she said. “If these shifts take root, Anambra can lead the way, proving that women are not just voters, but leaders shaping the future of democracy in Nigeria.”

She expressed appreciation to all partners and encouraged continued engagement with the Gender Situation Room and the broader Election Observation Hub.