The Women Political Participation Working Group (WPPWG) has demanded from the state government to reserve special positions for women in Borno State and at the national level.
The association made the demand in the late hours of Thursday during a Consultative meeting of Women Advocacy Groups in preparation for the Zonal Public Hearing on Review of the 1999 Constitution in Maiduguri, the state
The Chairperson of the WPPWG, Aisha Abubakar said the bill on the demand would be presented at the Zonal public hearing on constitutional review
She said “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”
According to Aisha, “We have 27 LGAs in Borno state, and 28 members of the House of Assembly, so going forward there will be additional members.
“Those additions will be reserved for women. This will also include the senatorial district, where we have three, so it is now going to be four, which means the additional one is for women.”
Similarly, the Senior Programme Manager, Elections for Kimpact Development Initiative, Umar Dan’Assabe said the bill was coming at the the time the constitution process was ongoing, adding that it will encourage inclusive governance in the state and Nigeria at large.
“The reason we are here is to have a conversation with the proponents of the special seat bills, which is currently at the public hearing stage
“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 Senators, we have just four senators who are elected and that are women. This is unacceptable.”
Dan’Asabe said “if the bill is passed, with women constituting 47.5% of the voting population in Nigeria, they can now vote more women to have a space in the decision-making table.
“In the Senate, women will have one reserved seat, the House of Representatives, they will have another one, in the state House of Assembly, they will have three.”
The Director, Women Affairs and Gender in the state Ministry of Women Affairs and Social Development, Falmata Lawan, commended the initiative while stating the state government’s support for gender inclusivity.
