Empowering Voices: New Movement Boosts Youth & Women Participation

Political economist Pat Utomi, human rights lawyer Femi Falana (SAN), and humanitarian activist Kennedy Iyere have unveiled the Nigerian Youths and Women Political Emancipation Movement (NYWOPEM) and launched the #FixNASS2027 civic campaign in Lagos. According to Ireporter Online, the event, organised by the Youths Off The Street Initiative (YOTSI), drew participation from political stakeholders, civil society actors, youth groups, religious organizations, and women-led bodies.

Iyere, founder of YOTSI and the 40Million Ballots Movement, described NYWOPEM as a response to the persistent underrepresentation of youths and women in governance, despite their numerical strength exceeding 60 percent of the voting population. He noted that while young people and women constitute a significant proportion of registered voters, their representation in the National Assembly and other political offices remains disproportionately low. “This has limited inclusive policy making and weakened public accountability,” he added.

According to Iyere, NYWOPEM aims to create a unifying platform for electoral engagement, enabling youths and women to network politically, pursue elective offices, and exercise their voting power effectively. The movement seeks to foster responsible leadership and accountable governance through democratic processes.

At the event, the group also launched the #FixNASS2027 campaign, a political sensitisation and grassroots voter mobilisation initiative. The campaign is designed to encourage peer-to-peer electoral engagement, networking, and mass mobilisation, with a focus on empowering youths and women to contest legislative positions in 2027 and support credible candidates committed to independence, functionality, patriotism, and respect for the electorate.

Falana urged the National Assembly to amend the Electoral Act to make the electronic transmission of results from polling units to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) central server mandatory. He stated that this reform is necessary following the 2023 elections and subsequent Supreme Court rulings, which held that electronic transmission remains optional under the current law.

Utomi described the launch of NYWOPEM and #FixNASS2027 as the beginning of sustained efforts to expand democratic participation and create greater opportunities for youths and women in Nigeria’s political sphere. He reinforced the call for mandatory electronic transmission of election results, dismissing concerns over network limitations as unfounded.