Nigeria\u2019s constitutional review process is charging ahead, and while recurring core issues like local government autonomy, electoral reform, judicial reform, state police, etc. remain in focus, a new priority is riding high on the agenda:\u00a0getting more women into elective positions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The National Assembly\u2019s zonal\npublic hearings are being wrapped up across all six geopolitical zones, \nmarking a key milestone in the ongoing review process. One proposal, in\nparticular, is generating real buzz \u2013 the Special Seats Bill, aimed at\nincreasing women\u2019s representation in the legislature.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If the name sounds familiar, it\u2019s\nbecause it is. The bill made an appearance in the preceding 9th National\nAssembly but didn\u2019t make it over the finish line. It was voted against by\nlegislators in March 2022. Now it\u2019s back on the agenda, and the mood feels\ndifferent. With backing from women and civil society groups, development\npartners, and even pockets of political leadership, the conversation is\nshifting from \u201cwhy?\u201d to \u201cwhy not?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The idea is simple: create\nadditional seats in the National Assembly and State Assemblies to be contested\nonly by women for a period. It\u2019s a temporary fix, but one designed to tackle a\nlong-standing problem i.e. Nigeria\u2019s staggeringly low number of elected women.\nRight now, only 20 out of 469 federal lawmakers are women. That\u2019s less than 5%.\nIn a country where women make up more than half the population, that\u2019s a glaring\nmismatch. The bill also responds to the hard truth that, in most political\nparties, women face steep odds at becoming candidates. They are often sidelined\nby nomination fees, internal politics, and the reluctance of male power brokers\nto back female contenders for existing seats.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
At the public hearings, women\u2019s\ngroups showed up and spoke up. From North to South, the message was loud and\nclear: representation matters. Not just for fairness, but for stronger\npolicies, more inclusive governance, and better outcomes for everyone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Supporters of the bill argue it\naligns squarely with Nigeria\u2019s constitution and national gender policy. They\nalso point to the built-in review clause \u2013 a smart feature that calls for the\nspecial seats to be reassessed after four election cycles (about 16 years).\nIt\u2019s not a forever fix. It\u2019s a bridge to get more women into the room now,\nwhile the deeper work of reforming party politics and leveling the playing\nfield continues. It also represents a pathway toward a future where women can compete\nand win on equal footing, without needing special provisions to be seen and\nheard.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The bill defines the women-only\nconstituencies. Each state becomes a single constituency at the federal level\nto elect one woman to the National Assembly, while the three senatorial\ndistricts in each state would each produce one woman at the state level for the\nState Assemblies. If the bill is successful, INEC is expected to have an\noperational implementing role: aligning the elections with the general polls,\ndesigning ballots, and educating voters, among others. One area that may\nrequire further clarity is the nominations process. While the Electoral Act\ncovers how parties nominate candidates, it doesn\u2019t speak to gender-specific\narrangements. If the bill passes, INEC may need to issue fresh guidelines to\nsupport the nomination and conduct of these elections. And advocates are clear:\nthese seats must be contested by credible women not political placeholders.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Passing any constitutional\namendment in Nigeria is no walk in the park. Section 9 of the 1999 Constitution\nsets a high bar: two-thirds of the National Assembly and 24 state legislatures\nmust say yes. Past efforts have stumbled here, and recent tensions between the\nSenate and the House over bill concurrence could be a challenge. The support of\nthe President is equally critical because a veto at that stage would derail the\nentire process.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Fortunately, momentum is building.\nA national public hearing on proposed constitution amendments is slated\nfor September 2025. If lawmakers can steer through the political headwinds and\nget this done, it would be a landmark move, not just for women inclusion but\nfor Nigeria\u2019s democracy. Hopefully, this is the moment Nigeria decides that\nhalf the population deserves a real stake in political power.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Nigeria\u2019s constitutional review process is charging ahead, and while recurring core issues like local government autonomy, electoral reform, judicial reform, state police, etc. remain in focus, a new priority is riding high on the agenda:\u00a0getting more women into elective positions. The National Assembly\u2019s zonal public hearings are being wrapped up across all six geopolitical zones, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":3909,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3902","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\/3902","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=3902"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/placng.org\/Legist\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3902\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3910,"href":"https:\/\/placng.org\/Legist\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3902\/revisions\/3910"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/placng.org\/Legist\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3909"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/placng.org\/Legist\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3902"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/placng.org\/Legist\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3902"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/placng.org\/Legist\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3902"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}