Constitution Amendment: Group Urges Passage of Reserved Seats for Women Bill

By Najib Sani, Gombe

A civil society organisation, Inclusive Access Development (IAD), has urged the National Assembly to pass the “Reserved Seats for Women bill 2025” in the ongoing constitution amendment exercise.

Executive Director of IAD, Sadiq Yahaya, made the call during a workshop organised by the organisation in Gombe State on inclusivity for stakeholders.

He said the bill which has been sponsored since 2025 should be passed into law, assented to and domesticated in states before the 2027 elections to enable more Nigerian women participate in governance.

According to him, women are marginalised politically by the males in elections opining that if certain seats are reserved for the women, it would correct the anomaly as they could automatically occupy those designated positions.

He claimed that such policies were adopted and working in Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania and some other African countries, adding that without it, Nigerian women would continue to be dominated in politics and governance.

“I am however happy that the bill has passed through the first and second readings at the National Assembly, but we will not rest in campaigns on traditional and digital media as well as physical interface with stakeholders to ensure it is passed into law, signed and domesticated”, he said.

Also speaking, one of the resource persons during the workshop, Zainab Abdulfatah, 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.

“The bill is very important because it is one of the highlights of democracy to ensure inclusiveness and representation to happen at all sectors”, she stated.

Our correspondent reports that the Reserved Seats for Women Bill 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, all reserved exclusively for women.