The Ellen Johnson Sirleaf Presidential Center for Women and Development, in partnership with the International Press Centre (IPC), has urged journalists to adopt gender-sensitive approaches when reporting women in public leadership ahead of Nigeria’s 2027 elections.
The call was made on Wednesday, 16 September 2026, at the opening of a three-day Reflection Meeting and Interactive Conversations on Gender-Sensitive Reporting and Media Coverage of Women in Public Leadership, holding from 16 to 18 September 2026.
The programme, themed “Reporting on Leaders: See Her, Hear Her, Cover Her”, is examining how women in politics and public office are represented in the media and how such coverage can shape public perception, political participation and democratic discourse.
For Breezy News, the discussions are particularly relevant as journalists and media organisations prepare for increased political coverage ahead of the 2027 elections, with participants examining how reporting practices can either reinforce or challenge existing perceptions of women in leadership.
Speaking at the programme, a representative of the Ellen Johnson Sirleaf Presidential Center, Noella Ngunyam, said the organisation’s work was inspired by the legacy of Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, Liberia’s first democratically elected female president and Africa’s first elected woman head of state.
Ngunyam urged journalists to critically examine how women in leadership are covered, particularly the emphasis often placed on their personal and family lives.
She questioned why issues such as marriage, children and family life are frequently included in reports about female leaders, while similar issues are less likely to form a central part of media coverage of male leaders.
Data presented at the meeting highlighted the low representation of women in Nigeria’s political institutions.
According to data from the EJS Center Data Hub, women occupy 15 of the 356 seats in the House of Representatives and four of the 107 seats in the Senate.
The data also showed that none of Nigeria’s 36 states currently has a female governor, while women occupy eight of the 48 ministerial positions.
The meeting further examined how women politicians are portrayed in the media, including concerns about coverage that focuses on their domestic lives, questions their competence, or draws attention to their appearance and morality.
For Breezy News, the concerns raised at the meeting underscore the importance of ensuring that political reporting focuses on the policies, records, expertise and public responsibilities of women leaders, rather than allowing gender stereotypes or personal considerations to dominate coverage.
During a fireside chat on “Covering Women in Public Leadership”, the Executive Director of the International Press Centre, Lanre Arogundade, urged journalists to consider their role in increasing the visibility of women leaders.
“What have we done as a media to project the women?” Arogundade asked.
He said gender-sensitive journalism should go beyond simply featuring women in news reports, stressing that women should also be recognised as decision-makers, experts and people in positions of authority.
The Executive Director and CEO of the Wole Soyinka Centre for Investigative Journalism, Motunrayo Alaka, also called for greater visibility for women in politics.
Alaka proposed the creation of a database containing information on women in public leadership, including their profiles and the positions or constituencies they represent.
She said such a database would make it easier for journalists to access information about women leaders and report on their activities.
The discussions also provide an opportunity for media organisations, including Breezy News, to reflect on newsroom practices and consider how political coverage can give women leaders appropriate visibility while maintaining professional journalistic standards.
The three-day reflection meeting and interactive conversations will continue on Thursday, 17 September, and Friday, 18 September 2026, with stakeholders discussing ways to strengthen gender-sensitive reporting and improve media coverage of women in public leadership.
