By Vivian Okejeme, Abuja
The move for the passage of Special Seat Bill for Women gets more push as preparations for the 2027, General Elections begins.
Against this backdrop, a coalition of women groups, staged a solidarity rally at the main entrance of the National Assembly (NASS), Abuja, calling for the speedy passage of the bill.
The bill which seeks to alter the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 to provide for special seats for women in the National Assembly and State Houses of Assembly, is one of the 44 prioritised constitution alteration bills awaiting final voting by the National Assembly.
Speaking at the rally, Founder, Ene Obi Centre For Development, Comrade Ene Obi, commended the NASS for the progress made so far on the bill, however, noting the need to hasten the passage of the bill to give women the opportunity to contest for the special seats in the 2027 general elections.
According to the former Country Director, ActionAid Nigeria, “A vote for a woman is a vote for life. Women are the hope of life. And I want to urge the members of the National Assembly, we are not protesting today, we are holding a rally. We believe in non-violence. We have organised ourselves. We have not besieged the gates of the National Assembly. We are not going to the Assembly unless they invite us.
“We are calling on the members of the National Assembly to come here and address us. We are waiting for them patiently. We are quite orderly. We don’t fight to go into that house because they have allowed us before. We have been there on the campaign for the special seats bill.”
Also speaking, President, Women in Politics Forum (WIPF), Barr. Ebere Ifendu, stressed that there can’t be electoral integrity without inclusion.
“So, this is an opportunity to correct every wrong that we have in the constitution. Without deliberate rego4ms women will continue to be sidelined,” she stressed.
On her part, Nigeria Association of Women Journalists (NAWOJ)
Vice President, Zone D (North Central), Mrs. Chizoba Ogbeche, said the women were not asking for too much but only asking the NASS to do right by Nigerian women and write their names in gold so that history will record that they are the ones who passed this bill.
“We are asking them to do the needful and to do it now because the window of opportunity is closing with the commencement of the processes for 2027 general elections by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC). NASS should not repeat the mistakes of the previous years by not passing this bill,” she appealed.
On her part, Founder, Cedar Seed Foundation, Lois Auta, called for five per cent reservation of special seats for women with disabilities and girls as provided for in the Disability Act.
“We are here to ask for our rights. Rights for inclusion. Rights for representation. Rights for participation in governance. In the Disability Act, 5% is enshrined for people with disabilities (PWD), including women and girls with disabilities. So we want 5% reservation of special seats for women with disabilities and girls. It is time that we move from exclusion to inclusion,” Auta stressed.
Addressing the women groups, Spokesperson for the House of Representatives, Hon Akin Rotimi Jnr, assured that that the demands would be formally presented to the lawmakers for consideration; even as he assured on electronic voting on special seats bill.
The lawmaker, who noted that the bill was one of over 40 bills for consideration by the House of Representatives, encouraged the women groups not to relent in the advocacy as the 10th was a listening Assembly, even as he urged them to also reach out directly to members of the Senate and House of Representatives to impress it on them that is what the women want.
