Women Seek to Reverse Shortfall in Representation

Onyebuchi Ezigbo in Abuja

Women lawmakers and activists have vowed to do something to check the dwindling number of female in elective office in the country.

At a conference organised yesterday by the Policy and Legal Advocacy Centre (PLAC) with support from the Embassy of France in Abuja, women lawmakers and civil society activists resolved to join hands to advocate for a legal framework that would enable women fill the existing gap in gender representation in politics and governance in the country.

Speaking on the abysmally low number of women lawmakers in the ninth National Assembly, the Minister of Women Affairs, Mrs. Paulen Tallen, described the current situation in the National Assembly as too low and unacceptable.

“The number of elected women in parliament is too few and unacceptable. My heart bleeds when I look at the calibre of women we have in the county, women that are more than capable to be there but were blatantly denied the opportunity. We have a herculean task before us ahead of the 2023 general elections,” she said.

The minister, who was once a deputy governor in Plateau State, said the women must start the struggle for greater inclusion early so that what happened during the 2019 elections would not repeat itself.

She lamented that women have borne the brunt of injustice of our electoral system, adding that most times when women win election, it would be upturned. She added that women would commence mobilisation early and galvanise their energies towards achieving a common goal of improving on the percentage of women occupying elective offices and critical positions in government.

While recounting her experience during an election, Tallen said her life was threatened when she tried to reclaim her mandate in a court of law after being shortchanged during an election.

“I was threatened to withdraw my case and that I dare not go to the Supreme Court or else I will lose my life. They told me that it is not a judicial matter but political,” she said.

The minister, however, advised the women to get involved in grass-root politics by ensuring that they make themselves relevant to the aspirations of the people in their locality.

According to her, it’s by so doing that women who seek elective offices could match their male counterparts in an electoral contest.

Earlier, the Chairman of the House Committee on Women, Hon. Taiwo Oluga, assured that her committee would continue to mobilise action to ensure that relevant clauses were included in the proposed constitutional amendment that would give equal participation for women.

On his part, PLAC Executive Director and Convener of the Civil Society Situation Room, Mr. Clement Nwankwo, said the present paltry four per cent women representation in the legislature was not acceptable.

Nwankwo said PLAC and other civil society allies would push to change the status quo by seeing that measures were implemented to give more women opportunity to aspire for political offices.

The French Embassy in Nigeria said the issue of gender equity in politics was very dear to its hearts, promising that France would support efforts that encourage more women participation in governance in Nigeria.