Feature: Special Seats Bill For Nigerian Women Polician: Hope or illusion?

Posted by African Examiner Featured, Featured Contributors/Columnists, Latest Headlines Friday, October 10th, 2025

(AFRICAN EXAMINER) –  The clamour for accrued practice of women successful Nigeria’s governmental abstraction has erstwhile again travel to the fore, arsenic stakeholders await the result of the Reserved Seats Bill presently earlier the National Assembly.

The bill, besides referred to arsenic “Additional oregon Reserved Seats Bill’’ seeks to change the 1999 constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria to supply preservation for women successful the National and State Houses of Assembly to code the debased fig of women successful the legislature.

If passed into law, the measure volition code the long-standing concerns of women underrepresentation successful governance and decision-making by ensuring that these peculiar seats are to beryllium contested and filled by women lone arsenic a impermanent measurement to boost their representation.

The measure proposes the instauration of 1 Special Seat for women per Senatorial District and 1 per Federal Constituency to beryllium contested by women successful wide elections of which they volition person the aforesaid privileges and responsibilities arsenic existing members.

This governmental solution is expected to beryllium alongside the existent constituency seats and volition beryllium successful spot for a constricted fig of predetermination cycles, aft which they volition beryllium reviewed to fortify women’s governmental inclusion.

Political analysts accidental Nigerian women’s governmental practice successful the NASS has steadily declined since 2007, erstwhile 36 women held seats; 9 successful the Senate and 27 successful the House of Representatives.

Currently, women inhabit little than 7 per cent of elective and appointive positions crossed the country, a fig acold beneath the 35 per cent affirmative enactment benchmark recommended successful National Gender Policies and planetary conventions to which Nigeria is simply a signatory.

Recently, Hajiya Imaan Sulaiman-Ibrahim, Minister of Women Affairs, raised concerns astatine the ninth Voice of Women league and awards successful Abuja.

“Currently women inhabit little than six per cent of seats successful the National Assembly, acold beneath the African Union people of 50 per cent parity and beneath the planetary mean of 26.5 per cent.

“In State Assemblies, women’s practice is little than 5 per cent nationwide.

“By contrast, Rwanda has achieved 61 per cent pistillate practice successful parliament, portion South Africa has implicit 46 per cent.

According to Sulaiman-Ibrahim, the figures item conscionable however acold down Nigeria is and wherefore decisive enactment is urgently needed.

“Our Reserved Seats Bill has the imaginable to unfastened a caller section successful governmental inclusivity.

“By institutionalising women’s participation, we align with planetary champion practices and fortify ideology astatine home.

“This is wherefore the Reserved Seats Bill is truthful significant; it is not an enactment of benevolence; it is an enactment of justness and strategical necessity.

“By guaranteeing abstraction for women successful governance, we align with planetary champion practices, guarantee a much inclusive democracy, and unlo...