Yiaga Africa has called for urgent national measures to address low women participation in parliaments across Nigeria.

Samson Itodo, executive director, Yiaga Africa, made the call in an interview with journalists in Abuja.

Statistics show that the 10th Assembly has just four women occupying four out of the 109 seats and 17 out of the 360 seats in the House of Representatives.

At the state level, 15 states namely: Abia, Bauchi, Borno, Gombe, Imo, Jigawa, Kano, Katsina, Kebbi, Niger, Osun, Rivers, Sokoto, Yobe and Zamfara all have no female house members.

Mr Itodo said that the trend had continued because political parties understood that voters would not punish them if they did not field female candidates.

“Until Nigerians and voters start punishing political parties who don’t field female candidates with fewer votes or by not voting for them, you would have this particular trend being maintained and sustained.

“So if voters refrain from voting for parties who don’t have female candidates, parties would be forced to field female candidates in elections,” he said.

He, however, said, “We cannot also ignore the fact that we do need some legislation that creates special seats for women in the national assembly’’.

Mr Itodo said that had the 9th National Assembly passed the Gender Bills, Nigeria would have had female seats in the national assembly to boost their participation.

He said that these were temporary measures, innovative in every respect, that could increase the quality and the level of female participation and representation in the electoral process.

“It is a shame and disappointing that the national assembly of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Africa’s largest democracy, the most populous black nation on earth, has just four female senators in the senate.

“How do you expect such a senate to deliver inclusive legislative governance?

“The entire political landscape is already skewed against women and that’s something we need to address as a matter of national emergency,’’ Mr Itodo said.

(NAN)