Bill To Produce One Female Senator From States Underway- Reps’ C’mte
The Chairman, House Committee on Women in Parliament Hon. Taiwo Oluga Wednesday said a bill to produce at least on the female senator from every state of the Federation was underway.
The chairman made the disclosure while meeting with the Legal Defence and Assistance Project (LEDAP), a coalition partner for Advanced of Gender Equality (SAGE) in Abuja.
She said that the Bill was an initiative of the committee and was part of the efforts being made to increase women representation in government. Oluga added that by the interventions of the committee, all 20 female lawmakers in the National Assembly have been included in the Constitutional Review Committee.
She said, ”What we are proposing in the bill is to have at least a senator from every state, it can be two out of the three. It not just because the female wants to occupy positions, we want to complement the efforts of the men; we are not in competition, just to complement them.
‘My own personal opinion is to have 360 members divided by two; how we are going to do it, let the political parties and the INEC corporate and let everyone be on the same page and make it a reality. If you cannot do that, in 2023 give us the 35 per cent affirmative action and that is what we are doing in collaboration with all stakeholders.”
Earlier, the Senior Programme Manager of LEDAP, Pamela Okoroigwe called for a strategy to the number of women in politics.
‘INEC should be empowered by the Constitution to enforce it by deregistering political parties that fail to conform. The Constitution should be amended to make it mandatory for the office chairman and secretary of political party leadership be occupied by a man and woman at all times.
The Constitution should also be amended to reflect 35 per cent affirmative action in ministerial appointments and in the Judiciary”, she said.
