The National Council of Women Societies (NCWS) has challenged the National Assembly to prove Nigeria’s commitment to global treaties on women by passing the bill seeking reserved seats for women.
The National President of the NCWS, Princess Edna Azura threw the challenge during a reception organised for her in Yola by her kith and kin in Adamawa State, saying that by delaying passage of the reserved seats bill, Nigeria is making the world ask questions about the genuineness of its signature on world treaties on women empowerment.
She said, “Nigeria has signed every treaty at the international level promoting the visibility of women at all levels. How will the rest of the world see us if locally we are so lowly represented in governance?”
She expressed regret that currently only 17 women are in the House of Representatives which has 360 seats; and only four women in the 109-member Senate.
“Out of the 36 state houses of assembly around the country, 15 do not have any female member,” she lamented, urging the National Assembly to pass the reserved seats bill to correct the situation.
The reserved seats bill in view seeks to amend the Constitution of Nigeria to reserve seats for women in both the National Assembly and state houses of assembly to address underrepresentation of women by creating special constituencies exclusively contested for by women.
The bill proposes one additional senator for each state and the FCT, with each woman contesting this reserved seat; while in the House of Representatives, the bill seeks one additional female member for each state and the FCT.
In each state House of Assembly, one additional female member is proposed to be elected from each of the three senatorial districts, resulting in three reserved female seats per state.