Women Advocates Research and Documentation Centre (WARDC) has urged federal lawmakers in Nigeria to consider passing the five gender bills before them into law.

Development Diaries reports that some women in March 2022 stormed the National Assembly to protest against the rejection of several bills seeking gender equality in the country.

The lawmakers voted against more seats for women in the federal and state legislatures; indigeneship rights for married women; and citizenship by registration for non-Nigerian men married to Nigerian women.

The other bills were 35 percent affirmative action for women in political party administration, and reserved quota for women in cabinet positions.

Women make up nearly 50 percent of Nigeria’s population. However they remain largely underrepresented in the country’s governance.

With only 6.42 percent of women representation in Nigeria’s ninth National Assembly, the country has one of the lowest rates of women representation in parliament.

WARDC asked the lawmakers to revisit the gender bills, accusing them of choosing to deny women the opportunity of inclusion and representation in governance.

‘The National Assembly should ensure affirmative action for women in political party administration to enable more women participation and voice’, the Executive Director of WARDC, Abiola Akioyode-Afolabi, said.

With the goal to increase the level of women’s participation in politics, the United Nations has been encouraging countries to reserve at least 30 percent of seats in their national parliaments for women.

While Africa’s most populous country is far from achieving the UN goal, countries like Rwanda (61.25 percent), South Africa (46.35 percent), Senegal (41.82 percent) and Ethiopia (38.76 percent) have shown good examples of increasing the level of women’s participation in politics.

Photo source: Abuja Facts