The House of Representatives has voted in favor of a bill aimed at increasing female participation in politics by reserving special seats for women in the Senate and House of Representatives. The bill, sponsored by Deputy Speaker Benjamin Kalu and 12 other lawmakers, seeks to amend Sections 48, 49, 71, and 117 of the constitution. It proposes one special seat for women in each state and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) in the Senate and House of Representatives. Additionally, Section 91 of the constitution would be altered to reserve three special seats for women in each state’s House of Assembly.
Co-sponsor Joshua Gana highlighted the bill’s goal of addressing the significant under-representation of women in the national assembly and at sub-national levels. He emphasized that the bill is based on the principle of equitable representation and aims to empower women by ensuring their active participation in legislative processes.
Gana noted that despite constitutional guarantees of equal rights, women have been alarmingly underrepresented in the legislature. He cited statistics from the 7th, 8th, and 9th assemblies, where women’s representation was extremely low. Gana argued that proactive measures are necessary to ensure equitable representation and to integrate women’s perspectives into national and sub-national decision-making processes.
Support for the bill was voiced by several lawmakers, including House spokesperson Akin Rotimi, Minority Leader Kingsley Chinda, and Kelechi Nwogu from Rivers, who emphasized the need for deliberate efforts to improve women’s political opportunities. However, some lawmakers opposed the bill, arguing that it violates constitutional provisions on equal opportunity for all. Ghali Tijani from Kano suggested that political parties should instead deploy mechanisms to enhance women’s participation in politics.
Despite the opposition, Kalu put the bill to a voice vote after Ahmad Satomi from Borno insisted that the vote proceed. The “ayes” were louder than the “nays,” and Kalu ruled in favor of the bill.
A similar bill was considered and voted down in the 9th assembly during the constitution amendment process. This current bill, if enacted, will take effect after the current national assembly’s term and will be subject to review every 16 years.