The push for greater inclusion and participation of women gained significant traction when the House Committee on the Review of the Constitution, in collaboration with the Policy and Legal Advocacy Centre (PLAC), with support from the European Union, convened an International Legislative Dialogue on Women and Constitutional Amendment in Abuja, on Monday, October 28, 2024.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The long-standing advocacy for women’s\ninclusion and participation in governance gained more prominence in 2021 when five gender\nbills did not pass in the 9th<\/sup> National Assembly’s\nConstitution review process, including the bill to create Special Seat for\nwomen in the federal and state legislatures. As the 10th<\/sup>\nNational Assembly kicked off its Constitution review process at the\nbeginning of 2024, the leadership of the House of Representatives demonstrated a commitment to\naddress the issue of abysmal women\u2019s political representation in Nigeria. The bill to\ncreate Special Seats for women in the National and State Houses of Assembly has\nbeen re-introduced in the House of Representatives by the Chairman of the House\nCommittee on Constitution Review and Deputy Speaker of the House, Rt. Hon.\nBenjamin Kalu. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The International Legislative Dialogue provided a\nplatform for consultation and discussion of the use of Temporary Special Measures (TSM),\nparticularly constitutional quotas to increase the number of women in elective\npositions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Notable guests at the event included the Speaker of\nthe House of Representatives, Rt. Hon. Tajudeen Abbas, and his Deputy, Rt. Hon\nBenjamin Kalu; Speaker of the\nParliament of Tanzania & President, Inter-parliamentary Union (IPU), Rt.\nHon. (Dr.) Tulia Ackson who joined virtually and MP Duduzile Zuma-Sambudla from\nthe Parliament of South Africa. Others are the First Lady of Kwara State and\nChairperson, Nigerian Governors Spouses Forum, Prof. Olufolake Abdulrazaq. In their\naddresses, they emphasized the necessity of empowering women and advocated for\nthe elimination of obstacles that impede women’s political progress in\nNigeria. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Speaker of the House of Representatives, Rt. Hon. Tajudeen Abbas in his keynote\naddress, expressed concern over the low representation of women in the National\nAssembly, stating, \u201cToday marks a significant step forward in our collective\ncommitment to inclusive governance and national advancement.\u201d He added, \u201cOur\nobjective is to ensure that Nigerian women, a vital component of our nation\u2019s\nsocial and economic structure, attain their rightful position within our\ngovernance framework. Empowering women is not only a moral and democratic\nobligation but also a strategic economic necessity.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n The Deputy Speaker, Rt. Hon. Benjamin Kalu who chairs the Committee on Constitution Review, affirmed the commitment\nof the Committee to prioritise key bills before the Committee that would impact\non improved women’s representation, which he described as an essential\ncomponent of Nigeria’s democratic journey.<\/p>\n\n\n\n During the event, the Deputy Ambassador of the EU\nDelegation to Nigeria and ECOWAS, Zissimos Vergos, emphasised the critical\nrole of women’s representation in governance, highlighting it as both a\nfundamental right and a catalyst for inclusive growth. He stated, “The\nactive involvement of women in all levels of decision-making and politics is\nvital for achieving equality, sustainable development, peace, and democracy.\nWomen’s equal participation in power and decision-making is integral to their\nfundamental right to engage in political life, forming the foundation of gender\nequality and women’s empowerment.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n Executive Director of PLAC, Clement Nwankwo in his\ngoodwill message, also addressed the audience, expressing his\ndelight that the 10th<\/sup> National Assembly’s serious consideration of\nthe bill to enhance women’s inclusion and participation in Nigeria. He urged\nstate and federal legislators to overcome cultural and religious biases to\nensure the bill’s passage. Furthermore, he encouraged Nigeria to learn from the\nexperiences of Tanzania, Uganda, South Africa, and other African nations that\nhave successfully implemented initiatives to increase women’s involvement in\npolitics and governance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n One of the highlights of the event was the signing of a commitment by\nthe Nigerian Governors’ Spouses Forum, women legislators, and other female\npoliticians to advocate for constitutional amendments that would enhance\nwomen’s participation in governance in Nigeria. This occasion marks a pivotal\nadvancement in the advocacy for the Special Seats Bill currently under review\nin the House of Representatives. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The event featured three panel discussion sessions,\nwith federal and state legislators, political party representatives and civil\nsociety stakeholders as discussants. These discussions provided some insight\ninto the necessity of empowering women politically and highlighted the urgent need to eliminate obstacles that\nimpede women’s political progress in Nigeria. Other participants at the\nevent were female executives from the corporate sector, female representatives\nfrom the academia, religious groups and public interest groups. <\/p>\n\n\n\n This occasion, organised with support from the European Union in\nNigeria, represents a significant step forward in the advocacy for the Special\nSeats Bill currently under consideration in the House of Representatives.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The push for greater inclusion and participation of women gained significant traction when the House Committee on the Review of the Constitution, in collaboration with the Policy and Legal Advocacy Centre (PLAC), with support from the European Union, convened an International Legislative Dialogue on Women and Constitutional Amendment in Abuja, on Monday, October 28, 2024.\u00a0 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":3665,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3660","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/placng.org\/Legist\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3660","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/placng.org\/Legist\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/placng.org\/Legist\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/placng.org\/Legist\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/placng.org\/Legist\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3660"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/placng.org\/Legist\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3660\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3664,"href":"https:\/\/placng.org\/Legist\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3660\/revisions\/3664"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/placng.org\/Legist\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3665"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/placng.org\/Legist\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3660"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/placng.org\/Legist\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3660"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/placng.org\/Legist\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3660"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}