Nigeria

The lawmakers’ decision on International Women’s Day came hours after simultaneous protests by women in four states.

Nigeria’s lower house of parliament has rescinded its decision on three bills that it discarded at a constitutional amendment session.

The House of Representatives has rejected a bill seeking to reserve special seats for Women at the National and State Houses of Assembly.

This followed the rejection of the bill at the electronic voting on the amendment of 1999 Constitution on Tuesday in Abuja.

The bill entitled,” A Bill for an Act to Alter the Provisions of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 to Provide For Special Seats for Women at the National and State Houses of Assembly”.

The House of Representatives special committee on review of the 1999 Constitution has presented the first batch of its report. 

The Committee, chaired by Deputy Speaker Idris Wase (APC, Plateau), presented the 68 alterations to the green chamber.

The First Lady, Aisha Buhari was on the floor of the House, alongside the Minister of Women Affairs, Pauline Tallen to witness the presentation.

The Independent National Electoral Commission(INEC) says it is collaborating with the Policy and Legal Advocacy Centre(PLAC), a Civil Society Organisation(CSO) towards increasing women and youths participation in politics.

Prof. Sam Egwu, the INEC Niger Resident Electoral Commissioner, said this at a Roundtable on Strengthening Internal Democracy with Special Focus on Gender and Social Inclusion in Abuja.

The Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commissioner, Prof Mahmood Yakubu has called on the youth and women in the country to use the voting strength to positively impact the 2023 electoral process.

Furthermore, the INEC boss said the two groups should team up to take over political power rather than to be used for political violence. The INEC chairman said this in Ilorin, the Kwara State capital on Sunday during the West Africa (ECOWAS) Youth Council summit.

There is renewed agitation for more inclusion of women in politics and governance in Nigeria. Analysts and watchers of political events in the country believe this is justifiable, considering the number of women in elected political positions since the inception of the present democracy in 1999.

To ensure that more women are included in politics and governance, some legislators recently called for reserved seats for women in the two chambers of the National Assembly.