Zainab Ibrahim: Twinning formula Is fastest way to women’s inclusion in politics
Zainab Ibrahim, deputy national woman leader of the All Progressives Congress (APC), says adopting the twinning formula remains the most effective path to increasing women’s participation in Nigeria’s politics.
The twinning formula (sometimes called twinning policy) is a political inclusion strategy where every top elective or appointive office is paired with a deputy slot reserved for women.
Speaking with journalists on Sunday in Abuja, Ibrahim explained that the formula is a policy that reserves deputy positions such as vice president, deputy governor, and vice chairman for women.
She said if the APC had adopted the model, all 24 states controlled by the party would have female deputy governors.
“The twinning does not require any national assembly legislation. It does not require anything. It is just a policy by a political party,” she said.
“The lowest hanging fruit to women inclusion in politics is the twinning formula and we are working strongly on it.”
Ibrahim traced the idea to a 2016 conference in New York where she met the then vice-president of The Gambia, who told her the country institutionalised female deputies by adopting the policy.
She added that countries like Namibia and Rwanda also implemented the approach and now record high levels of female political representation.
‘A Criteria For Women’s Support’
The APC woman leader said the formula could reshape women’s voting behaviour in future elections.
“Every governor that tells us his deputy will be a woman, every local government where the vice chairman will be a woman, what else do we want from any governor rather than giving him our 100 percent support,” she said.
She added that former Kogi governor Yahaya Bello had applied the formula when all vice chairmen in local governments were women.
Ibrahim, who also serves as deputy national secretary of the Inter-party Advisory Council (IPAC), said her advocacy for women’s inclusion goes beyond the APC.
“I head the directorate of women of IPAC. So my relationship is not just with women of APC. I deal with every woman leader of every political party, and we are working together,” she said.
Ibrahim expressed optimism that President Bola Tinubu would eventually endorse the policy, saying it could accelerate women’s support for his government.
