National Assembly promises speedy passage of women-inclusion bills

Senate President Godswill Akpabio has assured of the commitment of the 10th National Assembly to speedily consider and pass gender-based bills in the ongoing Constitution amendment process.

Mr Akpabio made the pledge on Monday at the opening of a workshop organised for all female legislators at the national and state assemblies in Abuja.

The workshop, organised by the National Institute for Legislative and Democratic Studies (NILDS) in collaboration with UN Women, was titled “Role of Legislators in Enhancing Gender Responsive Legislations and Budgeting in Nigeria” in Abuja.

Mr Akpabio said that promoting gender-responsive legislation and budgeting was an expression of genuine commitment to gender mainstreaming.

He said efforts, including the most recent interventions and the five gender bills presented to the 9th National Assembly in 2022 that could have made significant contributions to gender equality/equity, had failed.

Mr Akpabio said that unless notable barriers deeply rooted in culture, religion, economy and society are broken, it will be difficult to eliminate gender gaps.

The senate president said breaking such barriers demanded huge investments in gender-responsive legislation and budgeting as the take-off point.

“This is because the role of gender-responsive legislation and budgeting in addressing gender gaps in governance and development cannot be overemphasised

“As a responsible parliament, the 10th Assembly under my leadership will also act in solidarity with the women caucus of the National and State Assemblies in their rightful demand for improved representation in governance, symbolically and substantively.

“Arising from this workshop, I will facilitate constant stakeholder engagements, including the leadership of NASS and state assemblies, women legislators at national and state levels, relevant Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) and so on.

“We must do all that we can to make it work. We cannot afford to fail the nation again on this pertinent matter at this critical time.

“I will expect, among other things, that this workshop will lead to the production of a framework or template for assessing the responsiveness of our budgets to gender equity and guide the NASS regarding relevant and actionable legislative measures capable of addressing this pertinent issue.

“Permit me to reiterate, for the umpteenth time, the commitment of the assembly under my leadership to the speedy consideration and passage of the Gender Equality Bills as soon as we receive them.

“We are also committed to the effective implementation of such Bills once passed. We will also ensure that each phase of the budget cycle, from forecasting to outcome monitoring, is deliberately gender-responsive,” he said.

Women underrepresented almost in every sphere – Speaker Tajudeen Abbas

The Speaker of the 10th Assembly, Tajudeen Abbas. [PHOTO CREDIT: House of Representatives, Federal Republic of Nigeria]

Also speaking, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Tajudeen Abbas, said that women are not only underrepresented politically but in the private sector, religious organisations, and community and village governance.

He said male chauvinism had continued to derail the democratic ethos of inclusion and participation.

Mr Abbas said women and girls still face challenges accessing education, healthcare, economic opportunities, and political representation.

“Discriminatory cultural norms and practices, limited access to resources and decision-making processes, as well as violence against women, contribute to these inequalities.

“How do we explain that out of the 469 seats in the National Assembly, the 10th Assembly has only 3.91 per cent women’s representation?

“This is significantly low compared to other African countries such as Kenya, with 82 Female Members reordering 23.43 per cent of 350 representatives.

“Uganda have 188 women representing 33.81 per cent of 556 representatives, and Ghana, with 40 women, represents 14.55 per cent of 275 representatives.

“Tanzania boasts of 118, which represents 37.4 per cent women in a parliament of 393 seats, and Malawi has 40 women, which represents 20.73 per cent of 193 parliamentary seats.

“It is, therefore, a matter of urgency to advance gender-responsive Legislature, and the 10th House of Representatives is taking this seriously,” he said.

NAN reports that after counting the votes, the Nigerian National Assembly, at its plenary sessions on 1 March 2022, voted to reject five bills seeking to improve the participation of women in governance in the country.

Voting on 68 bills covering a range of matters, the National Assembly failed to vote in support of five key bills that would have improved women’s rights, created more legislative seats and increased participation of women in the governance of Nigeria.

The most far-reaching of these bills were the specific seats for women in the Federal and State Legislative Houses, which could have been the signature amendment of the 9th Assembly’s legislative achievement.

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Another failed bill was to provide 35 per cent affirmative action for women in political party administration, which failed in both houses, including an amendment in the House of Representatives to 15 per cent.

Others were the bill to expand the scope of citizenship by registration, to extend citizenship to foreign spouses of Nigerian women and the bill on State indigeneship rights, which were approved in the Senate but failed in the House of Representatives.

Also, a bill for reserved quota for women in executive cabinet positions (ministers and commissioners) was approved in the House of Representatives by voice votes but failed in the Senate.