Japan’s appointment of its first female prime minister is more than a symbolic milestone for a country long criticised for male-dominated politics. It sharpens the contrast with Nigeria, where women hold just 4.2 percent of federal legislative seats, one of the lowest rates globally, and where structural barriers continue to limit access to political power.
Sanae Takaichi, a 10-term lawmaker and former economic security minister within Japan’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party, rose through entrenched party structures rather than campaigning on gender activism.
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According to RISIS International, since the return to democracy in 1999, only 157 women have been elected to the 469-member National Assembly, compared with 2,657 men. Currently, women occupy four of 109 Senate seats and 17 of 360 seats in the House of Representatives. According to the Inter-Parliamentary Union, Nigeria’s overall female participation in elective and appointive positions stands at roughly 6.7 percent, below African and global averages.
Chris Nwaokobia, convener of the Country First Movement, insists the country cannot hide behind claims of unreadiness. “As credible as possible, I foresee a situation where a woman can emerge as the president of this country. We are ripe for it. Nobody should say we are not ripe,” he said.
He argues that cultural and religious biases continue to shape political outcomes, particularly in parts of northern Nigeria where leadership is still widely viewed as a male preserve.
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At the same time, he believes women must organise more effectively. “Women must begin to collaborate and support each other. If they do, leadership positions will open up,” he said.
Matthew Koffi Okono, founder of Open Forum, describes candidate selection as gate-kept by party power brokers. “Godfathers will not want to produce a woman for fear that the husband becomes the real power,” he said. “They would rather choose someone they can control.” Such gatekeeping narrows the pipeline. Party executives, not open primaries, often determine viable candidacies.
He believes Nigeria’s political culture as overly centralised, where party leaders allocate opportunities instead of building leadership pipelines. “Until we reorder our steps, women will remain alienated, even if they are given positions,” he added.
Ambition has not been absent in 2011, Sarah Jibril contested the presidential primaries of the Peoples Democratic Party but secured only one vote. Remi Sonaiya of the KOWA Party received 13,076 votes in the 2015 general election. In 2023, Princess Chichi Ojei was the sole female presidential candidate on the ballot, while Uju Ken Ohanenye withdrew during party primaries.
Reform proposals are already underway, a reserved seat for women bill before the National Assembly, which proposes temporary additional seats for women at the federal and state levels. Proponents argue that the measure could accelerate representation without displacing incumbents.
Analysts contend that quota mechanisms will not resolve deeper financing and nomination constraints embedded within party structures.
“Campaign financing structures further entrench insider dominance, limiting competitive entry for women and other outsiders,” Okono said.
During the 2025 local government elections in Lagos, the All Progressives Congress reduced nomination fees for female councillorship aspirants. 76 women were cleared to contest chairmanship positions, compared with 399 men, still uneven, but an expansion relative to previous cycles. The durability of those gains will depend on whether structural reforms extend beyond fee reductions to internal party democracy, transparent primaries, and financing access.
Japan’s experience offers no blueprint for replication. Its political institutions, elite consensus structure,s and voter behaviour differ from Nigeria’s. Yet the development illustrates that even long-standing male-dominated systems can shift when political incentives align. For Nigeria, the more pressing question is institutional willingness. Without reforms to candidate financing, party gatekeeping, and internal democracy, female representation is unlikely to rise materially.
