WOMEN’S SUFFRAGE IN NORTHERN

This study examines the 25-year struggle for female enfranchisement in Northern Nigeria, beginning with the 1954 regional exclusion and concluding with the attainment of universal suffrage in 1979. Unlike the South, women in Northern Nigeria were denied the vote for decades due to a complex blend of colonial policy, traditional patriarchy, and conservative religious interpretations. Through the radical activism of figures like Hajia Gambo Sawaba and the NEPU Women’s Wing, the movement challenged the ruling elite to demand political inclusion. The struggle eventually succeeded through the 1976 local government reforms and the 1979 Constitution, marking a definitive victory for gender equality in Nigerian electoral history.