IWD: Women Demand More Elective, Appointive Positions

Women in Parliament (WIP) Committee of the National Assembly yesterday called for inclusion of more women in elective and appointive positions in the country.
In a communique after its one-day retreat for female legislators in Lagos, the group frowned at the decline in the number of women in appointive positions in the country.
WIP Coordinator, Taiwo Oluga, commended the leadership of the Senate for deliberate inclusion of all female senators in the Constitution Review Committee and urged the House of Representatives to do the same.
This, she said, would ensure that critical issues of concern to women were brought to the attention of the committee in both chambers.
“Out of 469 members of the National Assembly, there are only 21 women; and women represent only 4.43 per cent of 991 legislators in the state Houses of Assembly.
“This act of political exclusion is no longer acceptable, Nigerian female legislators, therefore, call on their colleagues in the National Assembly and state Houses of Assembly to take drastic action.
“In the spirit of this year’s International Women’s Day (IWD), #EachforEqual campaign, we need to take intentional steps in the ongoing constitution review and electoral reform process to promote women inclusion in governance and politics through gender-specific provisions.
“WIP notes that the language of Nigerian laws is gender-biased and insensitive to women,” Oluga said.
She said the constitution, for instance, had gender insensitive words mentioned about 66 times and the Electoral Act also had gender insensitive words mentioned about 68 times.