Esther Salifu
Women in Borno State have urged the government to institutionalize the allocation of special political portfolios for women at both state and federal levels, as part of broader constitutional reforms aimed at strengthening female political participation.
During a consultative meeting in Maiduguri, Borno State, organized by the Women Political Participation Working Group, stakeholders advocated for the reservation of special political seats for women at both state and federal levels.
The initiative is said to aim at enhancing female representation in governance and address the systemic barriers that have historically limited women’s political participation in Nigeria.
Aisha Abubakar, Chairperson of the Women Political Participation Working Group, emphasized the significance of the proposed bill: “The bill is all about having a reserved seat for women so that women can contest favourably and confidently for seats. Initially, contesting with men is not easy because of reasons like political, social, economic and other factors. Now, if we have this reserve seat, it means they will be basically reserved for us to contest.”
Umar Dan’Assabe, Senior Programme Manager for Elections at Kimpact Development Initiative, highlighted the urgency of the bill: “This bill is particularly important for Nigeria because since the coming of the Nigeria fourth republic in 1999, we have seen women representation especially in the parliament doing good, but the situation we are right now is very terrible, for instance in the Nigerian senate, out of 109 senate, we have just four senators that are elected and that are women. This is unacceptable.”
Falmata Lawan, Director of Women Affairs and Gender in the Borno State Ministry of Women Affairs and Social Development, commended the initiative, stating that the state government supports efforts aimed at promoting gender inclusivity and is committed to implementing policies that empower women in political spheres.
The proposed bill seeks to allocate additional seats specifically for women in legislative bodies, thereby ensuring a more inclusive and representative political landscape in Nigeria.
