Gender advocates have said the proposed Constitutional amendment bill to reserve parliamentary seats for women could significantly reduce gender-based abuse and violence in Nigeria, if passed into law.

This was noted in a statement ahead of the Special Dialogue on the Reserved Seats Bill, hosted by the Emerge Women Development Initiative on the SheThePeople Platform, on Wednesday in Abuja.

The dialogue will be hosted in partnership with the Entrepreneurship Centre for Women Development.

Mary Ikoku, founder of the SheThePeople platform, said the reserved seats for women would ensure inclusive representation and reflect the diversity of Nigerian society. Ms Ikoku added that the forthcoming dialogue aims to foster high-level conversations around women’s political participation and empowerment in Nigeria.

She restated the urgency of the bill.

“Reserved seats are not a favor—they are a structural correction for decades of exclusion. We must build the momentum to make this reform a reality,” she said.

Abiola Akiyode-Afolabi, founding director of Women Advocates Research and Documentation Centre, said, “We have talked long enough—now is the time for institutional action. These bills represent a turning point for women’s rights in Nigeria.”

The event, scheduled for September 18, will also focus on issues related to gender-responsive legislation, women’s empowerment, and shaping the future of women’s representation in Nigerian governance.

The bill, currently under consideration by the National Assembly, is part of an ongoing constitutional review led by the House of Representatives.

It proposes the creation of one reserved Senate seat per State and the Federal Capital Territory (37 in total), one additional seat per State in the House of Representatives (another 37), and three seats per state in each State House of Assembly, all to be contested exclusively by women.

Nigeria currently ranks among the lowest globally in female political representation, with women occupying fewer than five percent of seats in the federal legislature, despite comprising nearly half of the country’s population.

There are arguments that the lack of women in governance contributes to the systemic neglect of issues like sexual violence, maternal health, education for girls, and social protection.

(NAN)