House To Ensure Women Get Proper Representation In Governance

Speaker of the House of Representatives, Dr Tajudeen Abbas says the 10th House will do everything within its powers to ensure women get proper representation in politics and governance.

Dr. Abbas also stated that achieving improvement in women’s participation in governance should be seen as an important aspect of sustainable national development.

He stated this in Abuja while addressing participants at the ‘International Conference on Women in Governance’, organised by the National Institute for Legislative and Democratic Studies, NILDS.

Dr. Abbas, while lamenting the slow pace of gender mainstreaming in politics and governance, cautioned that not speeding things up to catch up with the rest of the world would mean that Nigeria stands the risk of missing out on the all-important aspect of development.

Speaking on the Gender Bills that failed during the 9th Assembly, Speaker Abbas said they would be reintroduced in the current 10th House.

The Speaker noted with concern that “with barely six years and just one more general election cycle before 2030 (when the SDGs should have been attained), Nigeria stands the risk of missing out on this all-important aspect of development.

He said the United Nations recognized the need to address these problems when it introduced the Millennium Development Goals, which was later changed to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), for achieving gender equality and empowering women and girls as fundamental aspects of sustainable development.

Abbas, however, commended both the last and the current administrations for laying a policy foundation by approving a new gender policy that would span 2021 to 2026, which sets new minimum standards expected to be attained by the Nigerian government in order to meet the mandate for gender equality, a policy which he said the Bola Ahmed Tinubu-led administration has adopted and is implementing.

He also lamented the low level of support given to women by the electorate during elections, pointing out that having 3.91 percent of 469 seats in the National Assembly occupied by women was nothing short of abysmal.

The Speaker called on the male gender to do more within their spheres of influence to enhance women’s participation in politics and governance, saying that since it is men who usually shut the doors, they should make efforts to open them.

“The legislature will work with the leaders of political parties to find a model, looking at other countries with high women representation, that will best suit the Nigerian political culture and ensure that women are properly represented in the legislature and other arms of government.”

Oduyemi Odumade, Edited By Grace Namiji