Special Seats Bill: Hope or illusion for Nigerian women?
Source: Nan News
The clamour for increased representation of women in Nigeria’s political space has once again come to the fore, as stakeholders await the outcome of the Reserved Seats Bill currently before the National Assembly.
The bill, also referred to as “Additional or Reserved Seats Bill’’ seeks to alter the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria to provide reservation for women in the National and State Houses of Assembly to address the low number of women in the legislature.
If passed into law, the bill will address the long-standing concerns of women underrepresentation in governance and decision-making by ensuring that these special seats are to be contested and filled by women only as a temporary measure to boost their representation.
The bill proposes the creation of one Special Seat for women per Senatorial District and one per Federal Constituency to be contested by women in general elections of which they will have the same privileges and responsibilities as existing members.
This political solution is expected to exist alongside the current constituency seats and will be in place for a limited number of election cycles, after which they will be reviewed to strengthen women’s political inclusion.
The clamour for increased representation of women in Nigeria’s political space has once again come to the fore, as stakeholders await the outcome of the Reserved Seats Bill currently before the National Assembly.
The bill, also referred to as “Additional or Reserved Seats Bill’’ seeks to alter the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria to provide reservation for women in the National and State Houses of Assembly to address the low number of women in the legislature.
If passed into law, the bill will address the long-standing concerns of women underrepresentation in governance and decision-making by ensuring that these special seats are to be contested and filled by women only as a temporary measure to boost their representation.
The bill proposes the creation of one Special Seat for women per Senatorial District and one per Federal Constituency to be contested by women in general elections of which they will have the same privileges and responsibilities as existing members.
This political solution is expected to exist alongside the current constituency seats and will be in place for a limited number of election cycles, after which they will be reviewed to strengthen women’s political inclusion.