Indigeneity Crisis And Women Political Participation In Nigeria’s 2015 General Elections

Abstract

This study examines the prevailing local practices that marginalize Ebonyi women from participating in politics in the state. Our investigations were predicated on the basic propositions emanating from the indigeneity crisis framework. Issues interrogated in the work include the Ebonyi State Independent National Electoral Commission and some Political Parties which gave some Ebonyi women the ticket to contest in different political positions in the 2015 general elections. The 1979 constitution introduced the concept of ‘indigeneity’ into Nigerian public law to guarantee a fair regional distribution of power. Over the years, the principle has been subverted to discriminate against Nigerian citizens who are not indigenous to the places where they live, work, and marry. Women married to men who are non-indigenes of their local governments suffer discrimination. In their own constituencies, they are told that by marrying out, they have lost their indigeneity; in their husband’s constituency, they are told they do not really belong because indigeneity is based on the consanguinity principle. At the end of the study, it was noted among others that the systematic entrenchment of practices aimed at the continued marginalization of  Ebonyi women in the political process must stop and that the regulatory framework for the establishment and entrenchment of indigeneity into the political process should be reviewed to ensure a higher rate of women participation in subsequent elections in the country.