Stakeholders advocating for the passage of the Reserved Seats Bill for Women have described the proposed legislation as a critical step toward building an inclusive democracy in Nigeria.
At a press conference ahead of the Zonal Public Hearings by the Senate Committee on the Review of the 1999 Constitution, slated for Enugu this weekend, the group called on political leaders and citizens in the Southeast to support the bill.
Dr Adaora Onyechere Sydney Jack, coordinator of the campaign in the Southeast, said the bill aims to amend the constitution to guarantee women a minimum number of seats in federal and state legislatures.
“Nigeria is on the path to inclusive democracy and reserved seats for women is the bridge to get us there,” she said, describing the bill as a potential turning point for the nation’s political development.
According to her, the legislation would enable women to contest, lead, and legislate not as exceptions, but as equals, inspiring a new era of leadership focused on education, healthcare, human rights, and community-driven development.
Onyechere praised members of the National Assembly for their support, saying they had demonstrated commitment to gender equality by actively backing the bill.
She dismissed claims that the bill offers women preferential treatment, stating that it represents institutional justice and seeks to correct long-standing imbalances.
“Despite women constituting nearly 50 per cent of Nigeria’s population, they occupy less than seven per cent of seats in the National Assembly. That is not a coincidence. It’s the result of decades of exclusion, societal bias, structural barriers, and political violence,” she said.
Highlighting the strategic importance of the bill, she said, “The Reserved Seats Bill seeks to rewrite that imbalance by creating constitutionally guaranteed space for women in governance, not as a token gesture, but as a necessity for national progress.”
She concluded by stressing that inclusive representation is essential to democracy and that the bill is a step toward a system that reflects the true diversity of the Nigerian population.
