A coalition of women groups from across the 36 states and 700 local government areas on Wednesday submitted petitions to the National Assembly, demanding the immediate passage of the Special Seats for Women Bill to address the underrepresentation of women in governance.
The groups, led by the League of Women Voters of Nigeria and the National Council of Women Societies (NCWS), said the petitions were collated from constituencies nationwide over the last three weeks and delivered to members of the House of Representatives.
President of the League of Women Voters of Nigeria (NILOWV) Hon. Irene Mngupado Awunah-Ikyegh who addressed journalists at the entrance of the National Assembly, said some lawmakers received the petitions personally while others were submitted in their absence.
“Three weeks ago, we went to every constituency office and houses of House of Representatives members to submit a petition demanding an immediate passage of the Special Seats Bill. We are here today to formally submit all the petitions that we have collated across Nigeria,” she said.
Reading from the petition titled ‘Urgent demand for the passage of the Special Seats for Women Bill to enhance inclusive governance in Nigeria,’ Awunah-Ikyegh said Nigerian women, who make up about half of the country’s population, remain “severely underrepresented in all tiers of government.”
“Representation often hovers around less than five per cent in elected positions — one of the lowest in Africa,” the petition stated, while citing constitutional guarantees of freedom from discrimination and the right to participate in governance.
The Special Seats Bill for Women seeks to create additional seats for women in the National Assembly and State Houses of Assembly.
The petitioners argued that the mechanism, if adopted, would align Nigeria with countries like Rwanda, South Africa, Kenya, and Uganda in accelerating women’s political inclusion.
Awunah-Ikyegh noted that similar constitutional amendment bills considered by the 9th and 10th Assemblies “failed to secure required constitutional mandatory due to lack of political will.”
The coalition called on lawmakers to “mobilise all your colleagues and ensure that the bill gets majority to vote at the House of Representatives and Senate,” and to “vote in favour of it and reject any motion opposing it during plenary.”
Their prayers include an appeal to legislators to use their “good offices to influence the passage of this bill” and to “advocate for an emergency sitting to vote for this bill.”
Also speaking, National President of the National Council of Women Societies (NCWS) Nigeria,Princess Edna D.D. Azura, said Nigerian women have signed several protocols on women’s representation, including the 35 percentaffirmative action, but implementation remains poor.
“Other countries have passed that stage. Rwanda, they are about 67 percent now. Nigerian women, we don’t even want to go that far. They must get the 35 percent and above. But now, we are about just four percent representation in Nigeria and it’s not healthy for the entire nation,” Azura said.
She added that over 800 women are seeking elective positions in the current political transition, with more than 300 under the All Progressives Congress alone.
“The women are ready, and the women are vast. We are well-read, we are politicians, and you have tested, you have seen many that have been there and how they have performed,” she said.
Azura stressed that women groups are now “speaking with one voice” across the country.
“We are loving, but we are calling a critical call. Please, let them pass this bill because it is time. Other countries are far behind, maybe second to the last in the entire world for representation of women,” she said.