...mobilizes support for 'Reserved Seats for Women Bill 2025’
By Monday Munkaila, Gombe
A civil society organisation, Inclusive Access Development (IAD), has decried systemic marginalisation of women in policies formulation and implementation in the country.
According to the group, women constitute more than half of Nigeria's population but paradoxically, women folks have not been fully represented in decision making processes.
While speaking in Gombe during a sensitisation workshop organised for women, Executive Director of IAD, Sadiq Yahaya, urged the stakeholders in the country to pass the Reserved Seats for Women Bill, 2025.
He said, considering the huge existing gaps, IAD is sustaining its momentum in advocacy by mobilising critical stakeholders towards institutionalising reserved seats for women at all levels of Nigeria's governance structure.
Yahaya said that they would not relent until the bill is passed, assented to and domesticated to amplify the voice of the Nigerian women just the way it is working in Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania and some other African countries.
He noted happily that though the bill has passed through the first and second readings at the National Assembly, they would not rest in campaigns on social and digital media as well as physical interface with stakeholders.
He expressed more concern, saying, "most people need to be encouraged to address the cultural and religious barriers so that when it is passed, it should be implemented in Northern Nigeria and our women will be encouraged and empowered to contest for seats that are reserved for them and then we have inclusive governance in Nigeria".
Zainab Abdulfatah, a gender inclusion advocate and one of the resource persons during the workshop, decried the under representation of women in the National and State legislature describing it as a situation that has posed a great minus for Nigeria's democracy.
According to her, "the bill is very important because it is one of the highlights of democracy for inclusiveness and representation to happen in all sectors".
She advocated for a mindset change towards women saying, "when we start looking at women as capable of bringing inclusive development, that is a major step.
Zainab Abdufatah added that, "All stakeholders, traditional, religious leaders, women societies, CSO's, youth groups among many others are here to understand what the bill is all about, go back to their spaces and step it down, advocate and sensitise people on its importance."
"There are a lot of hindrances but we should not focus on what is hindering women, we should rather focus on what we can do to break that bias", she pointed out.
Khalid Ahmed Kumo, a Legislative Assistant to the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Tajudeen Abbas, enlightened the participants on the processes of law making at the National and State Assemblies, particularly the ongoing constitutional amendment.
He expressed hope of the bill scaling through because of the passion of the Speaker, who is interested in seeing the bill become a reality. Members of the National Assembly also have a positive mindset towards the bill too.
The Reserved Seats for Women Bill (HB 1383) proposes a constitutional amendment to create dedicated seats for women in Federal and State legislative bodies.
Specifically, it seeks to add 37 seats to the Senate, 37 to the House of Representatives and three seats per State House of Assembly (totaling 108 across 36 States), all reserved exclusively for women.
These additional seats would be filled through direct elections on separate ballots, ensuring women compete among themselves for representation without displacing existing seats held by men.
Most of the participants who voiced out their minds during the discussion session applauded IAD's efforts in pushing for the passage of the bill and promised their support in realising the smooth passage and assent of the bill.
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