A civil society pressure group, Inclusive Access Development (IAD), has mobilised support from stakeholders in Gombe on the need to pass the Reserved Seats for Women Bill 2025.
Women are said to constitute about half of Nigeria’s population, but records glaringly show that they have not been fully represented in the decision-making processes of the country, reports Daily Independent.
Considering the huge existing gaps, IAD is therefore sustaining its momentum in advocacy by mobilising critical stakeholders towards institutionalising reserved seats for women at all levels of Nigeria’s governance structure.
Executive Director of IAD, Sadiq Yahaya, during one of the organisation’s advocacy workshops, said they will 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, however, noted happily that though the bill has passed through the first and second reading at the National Assembly, they will not rest in campaigns on social and digital media, as well as physical interface with stakeholders.
He expressed more concern about the conservative North, 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 at 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.
“All stakeholders, traditional, religious leaders, women societies, CSOs, youth groups, among many others, are here to understand what the bill is all about, go back to their spaces and spread 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 that the bill would scale 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.
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 realizing the smooth passage and assent of the bill.
