Stakeholders demand re-introduction, passage of five gender bills by National Assembly

Mercy Adewunmi

A coalition of gender groups has called on the 10th Assembly to re-address and sign into law, the Five Gender Bills.

This call was made at the launch of the new hash tag to organize public support with at least, One Million online signature for the passage of the Five Gender Bills.

At the launch, key gender gaps in the 1999 Constitution were addressed to ensure adequate awareness of the deficiencies in the constitution and to draw the attention of lawmakers and the public to the need to have a representative constitution.

Stakeholders who spoke at the launch noted that, the Five Gender Bills is not just a piece of legislation. Rather, are keystones in the doorway towards a more inclusive and egalitarian society which signifies a commitment to dismantling barriers that have hindered women’s full participation in various facets of life and it also represent a vision where every individual, regardless of gender, has equal opportunities to contribute to and benefit from the progress of our nation.

The 5 gender bills include: Bill to provide special seats for women at the national assembly; affirmative action for women in political party administration- 35 percent of executive positions; another bill sought to grant citizenship to foreign-born husbands of a Nigerian woman.

The remaining two were a bill on indigenship- married women should have a choice on state of origin and have access and inclusion of at least 10% affirmative action in favour of women in Ministerial appointments.

In 2022, the 9th National Assembly threw out these bills, Womanifesto, a feminist non-political, women focused group with over 500 organisations across Nigeria, led the protest against the National Assembly after the bills were rejected. The gender cluster group was formed after this rejection and have also continued with advocacy visits and media awareness on the bills and their impact on Nigerian women.