The Premium Times Centre for Investigative Journalism (PTCIJ), Abuja in partnership with the African Studies program of the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS), Washington, D.C. is conducting a gendered analysis of the 2019 Nigerian elections.
The project is headed by Dr Chiedo Nwankwor, whose work at Johns Hopkins SAIS focuses on Gender Studies and Identity Politics in Africa. The project will make inquiry into the gender dimensions of electoral processes in Nigeria, highlighting the role that gender equality plays in building democratic societies.
According to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), current data indicate a gender voter registration gap of about six per cent, with 52.86% male registered against women’s 47.14%, foreshadowing a voting gender gap.
The project will examine changing conceptions of gender in society, factors that induce and limit women’s political participation, their impact on governance outcomes and interrogate the persistence of male dominance in politics.
Johns Hopkins SAIS brings decades of scholarly research that combines rigorous theoretical research with a policy-focused scholarship. Furthermore, the African Studies program boasts consistent scholarship with a focus on the African continent and Nigeria, in particular. PTCIJ lends its robust work on investigative journalism in Nigeria, which creates an intersection between journalism, technology, data sciences and decision sciences for the promotion of accountability and development.
This project will deploy teams to each of the 109 senatorial districts in the country. The polls will examine past political behaviour and current voting patterns in the recent presidential and state elections.
Dr Nwankwor will be assisted by Ms Elor Nkereuwem, a doctoral candidate at the Johns Hopkins SAIS. The project team in PTCIJ will be headed by Ms Oluwatosin Alagbe. Ms Alagbe is the deputy program director at PTCIJ.