The National Assembly says it is working on numerous bills and measures to increase the participation of women in both elected and appointive offices in Nigeria.

The speaker of the House of Representatives, Abbas Tajudeen, disclosed this at a one-day summit on women’s inclusion on Thursday in Abuja. The summit was organised by the African Centre for Leadership, Strategy and Development (Centre LSD), with support from the Commonwealth and Development Office through the Policy and Legal Advocacy Centre (PLAC).

Mr Tajudeen said women constituted approximately 49.45 per cent of Nigeria’s total population as of 2023, but it does not reflect so in governance.

The speaker said that the participation of women in politics has remained relatively low since 2015, adding that had the gender bills rejected by the Ninth Assembly scaled through, the situation would have been different. He, however, said the 10th Assembly was committed to reversing the negative trend and ensuring increased women’s inclusion in governance through some initiatives.

Mr Tajudeen said the assembly would encourage state houses of Assembly to adopt similar measures. He added that the assembly recognised the need for electoral reforms to mandate political parties to include a certain percentage of female candidates within their leadership structures.

The speaker said the parliament was working towards the passage of the Gender Equal Opportunity Bill to ensure that women were active and equal participants in Nigeria’s political and decision-making processes.

Mr Tajudeen added that oversight has been strengthened to ensure compliance with the National Gender Policy and court judgment on fully implementing the 35 per cent affirmative action on appointive and elective positions in both the public and private sectors.

(NAN)