Women march in Abuja, demand passage of reserved Seats Bill

By Favour Ulebor

Abuja—No less than 750 women from crossed Nigeria, yesterday, staged a bid locomotion successful Abuja, demanding that lawmakers walk the long-awaited Special Seats Reserved for Women Bill aimed astatine expanding pistillate practice successful governance.

The women, drawn from each 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, gathered astatine the Maryam Babangida National Centre for Women Development earlier proceeding to Transcorp Hilton for the nationalist hearing.

The “Special Seats Bill” seeks to amend the 1999 Constitution to reserve 10 percent of seats successful the National Assembly for women and 5 percent for persons with disabilities (PWDs) crossed Nigeria’s 36 states and the FCT.

Speaking during the rally, Chief Executive Officer of Women Radio, Mrs. Toun Okewale-Sonaiya, said: “The nationalist proceeding connected the Reserved Seats Bill marks a historical infinitesimal for Nigerian women and for our democracy. This Bill is not astir tokenism, it is astir fairness, inclusion, and ensuring that the voices of fractional of our colonisation are nary longer sidelined successful governance. Around the world, countries that person embraced reserved seats person seen stronger democracies and amended improvement outcomes.

“Today, Nigerian women are saying clearly: we are acceptable to lead, to serve, and to signifier the aboriginal of our nation. The transition of this Bill volition not lone fortify practice but volition besides animate the adjacent procreation of girls to judge that enactment genuinely belongs to them arsenic overmuch arsenic to men.

“We impulse our lawmakers to perceive to the voices of women crossed the state and marque past by passing this Bill. Nigeria cannot spend to permission its women down immoderate longer,” she said.

Former Country Director of ActionAid Nigeria, Ms. Ene Obi, described the measure arsenic precise critical.She said: “The measure is precise critical, we are present to accidental a large convey you to the Speaker of the House of Representatives, and its members and we judge we tin marque a difference.

“We are present contiguous to accidental women practice is the ultimate, this measure volition promote women to bring successful their issues, the interest of women is not astir them but their children. We are present and we mean business, equality for each our children is what we privation and we mean business,” she said.

Also speaking, National President of the League of Women Voters, Mrs. Irene Awuna, said: “We are each present with signatures that we person governors from the 36 states, implicit 1 cardinal signatures to beryllium presented astatine today’s nationalist proceeding and their extremity of citizens of this enactment for the peculiar seats reserved for women astatine the National Assembly.

“This is to amusement that isolated from the civilian nine successful Nigeria, the Nigerian women person owned this measure and person shown they judge successful the bill.”

The station Women march successful Abuja, request transition of reserved Seats Bill appeared archetypal connected Vanguard News.