The African Democratic Congress (ADC) governorship candidate in Cross River State, Nkoyo Toyo, has said President Bola Tinubu will be faulted if women fail to secure meaningful representation in the 2027 elections.

Toyo accused the National Assembly and the executive of failing to demonstrate sufficient political will to address the barriers limiting women's participation in politics.

She spoke on Morning Brief, a Channels Television programme, on Monday, during a discussion on women's representation in Nigerian politics.

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Toyo said women across the country had, over the past two years, mobilised across party lines and worked with traditional, religious and other stakeholders to demand special legislative seats for women.

She said the demand aimed to address the historical exclusion of women from political decision-making and should not be treated as a request for preferential treatment.

"This is not begging the point. This is a recognition that without the legal backing of the Constitution itself and the legal setting that allows for women's voices to be legally recognised as part and parcel of a system that has historically, and I say the word historically, excluded women, this will be an uphill task," she said.

The ADC candidate questioned why legislation seeking special seats for women had not been passed despite sustained advocacy.

"The question that goes to the APC government and the rest of us is, why was that law not passed? If we are so committed to the issue of women's representation, why was that law not passed?" she asked.

Toyo also criticised the electoral framework, arguing that the process and timelines for political parties to field candidates created additional difficulties for women seeking elective office.

"Instead of having a reasonable number of women participate, the Electoral Act itself worked against women," she said.

"The recruitment process was thrown off guard. The whole thing went upside down. Many people were struggling at the very last minute to get into the space and be recognised, which means to me that nobody seriously gave consideration to the issues of women's participation."

Toyo predicted that relatively few women would emerge from the 2027 elections and said the president would ultimately be held responsible.

"I will tell you for nothing that I'll be very, very surprised if many women scale through in this particular election," she said.

"And honestly, if there's one person we are going to put that fault on, it is the president himself."

According to her, advocacy for greater representation had reached the highest levels of government, but the failure to translate it into legislation demonstrated, she said, a lack of commitment.

"Nobody wanted to take a risk on women. That's the bottom line," she said.

Toyo also called on the First Lady to support women across political parties rather than limiting such efforts to a particular political platform.

"She is a mother to the nation. She's not a mother to one political party. We need the women in the parties. We need women in decision-making positions. We need the women in the legislature. We need the women in the executive positions," she said.

She urged the First Lady to use her influence to support women seeking political office and help create opportunities for those already holding public positions.

Toyo rejected the argument that culture was the primary obstacle to women's political participation, saying the problem was largely a lack of political will.

"So let's be clear about this. This is about the absence of political will," she said.