The outgoing 9th National Assembly (NASS) has failed Nigerian women by failing to pass five gender bills into law, according to women’s rights advocates in Nigeria.
Remember that the 9th NASS rejected five gender bills, including Bill No 35: Special Seats for Women, Bill No 36: Expansion of the Scope of Citizenship through Registration, Bill No 37: Affirmative Action for Women in Political Party Administration, Bill No 38: Indigeneship Rights, and Bill No 68 (formerly Bill No 45): Affirmative Action in Ministerial and Commissioner Appointments.
Gender advocates said yesterday in Lagos at a knowledge building round table with media chiefs organized by Women Advocates Research and Documentation Centre (WARDC) with support from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and Palladium that Nigeria cannot have a sustainable democracy unless women are included in political positions.
Read Also: Monday sit-at-home: NLC informs Soludo to provide vehicles and security for employees
According to Prof Joy Ezeilo, the national consultant to UN Women, gender equality was one of the 13th identified priority issues for constitutional review by the 9th NASS legislative agenda; in this regard, both the Senate and House of Representatives worked to deliver on the constitutional amendments with the services of experts as consultants to provide technical assistance on the constitutional review process.
Ezeilo revealed that the five Gender Bills were among the 68 bills adopted for constitution review, and that the bills were intended to provide women with opportunities for inclusion and representation in governance.
“On the expansion of the scope of citizenship by registration, 83 out of 109 members of the House of Senate voted for the bill to be passed into law, while in the House of Representatives, 135 said ‘YES’ and 143 said ‘NO’ to the bill,” the consultant said. Concerning affirmative action for women in political party administration, 34 members of the House and Senate voted ‘YES’ and 53 voted ‘NO’ to the bill. The bill received 107 ‘YES’ votes in the House of Representatives and 195 ‘NO’ votes.
“In the House of Senate, 90 members voted ‘YES’ on indigenous rights. Meanwhile, only 98 members of the House of Representatives voted ‘YES’ to the bill, while 198 voted ‘NO’ to its passage.”
This is heartbreaking. Ezeilo bemoaned, adding that the bills were intended to address political inequality. She did, however, urge the incoming 10th NASS to ensure that the five bills become law as soon as they take office.
In the same vein, Dr Abiola Akiyode-Afolabi, executive director of WARDC, revealed that 13 African countries have mandated reserved seats for female federal lawmakers. South Africa, for example, reserved 46%; Senegal, 41%; and Ethiopia, 38%, according to Akiyode-Afolabi, who urged the incoming 10th NASS to ensure that the five bills become law.
Read Also: My 4 wives, 28 kids, evidence I’ll be successful speaker – Doguwa
Meanwhile, Toun Okewale Sonaiya, CEO of Women Radio 91.7, condemned the 9th NASS in her opening remarks for failing to pass the five gender bills into law, adding that the 9th NASS has done the most damage to the women agenda in Nigeria.
