Coalition Demands Special Legislative Seats for Women

James Sowole in Akure

A coalition of 153 women groups under the aegis of Women Political Participation Technical Working Group (WPP-TWG) has canvassed an inclusive constitution that will accord women recognition in governance.

Founder of the coalition, Mrs Felicia Onibon made this call during the public hearing of the Senate Committee on the Review of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 in Akure, the Ondo State capital last Thursday.

In the Senate, Onibon noted that one seat should be created for a woman from each of the 36 states and the Federal Capital while two seats for women in the House of Representatives from the 36 states and the Federal Capital.

In state houses of Assembly according to the women leader, one seat from each of the three senatorial districts should be reserved for women.

Onibon said the proposed constitution should ensure equitable women representation in government with at least 35% women representation in appointive offices at the federal and state levels.

The woman activist, also, advocated a new constitution that would be gender-neutral and gender sensitive language, noting that the current constitution was gender biased in favour of men with masculine pronouns.

She explained that masculine languages “are gender-biased and undermine women and girls’ political participation, which further hinders inclusive governance in Nigeria.”

As a way of addressing the gender biased language, the coalition leader argued, every gender-biased world such as “he” should be changed to “the person”