10th House of Reps to revisit failed gender bills

Speaker of the House of Representatives Tajudeen Abass says the 10th assembly will reintroduce the Gender bills that failed in the 9th assembly.

Speaker Abass gave this assurance on Wednesday while addressing participants at the International Conference on Women in Governance, organised by the National Institute for Legislative and Democratic Studies (NILDS).

The Speaker who said the 10th House would do everything within its powers to ensure women get proper representation in politics and governance, noted that achieving improvement in women’s participation in governance should be seen as an important aspect of sustainable national development.

“I understand the frustration of women following the rejection of the Gender Bill in the 9th House of Representatives. That bill failed to pass because of the challenges of finding modalities for its success. But the 10th House will be revisiting the Bill as part of our Legislative Agenda, and we believe that working together with the women and stakeholders, we should be able to have a law that will benefit the women and all Nigerians and improve governance in Nigeria,” he said.

Speaker Abbas also lamented the low level of support given to women by the electorate during elections, pointing out that having 3.91 percent of 469 seats in the National Assembly occupied by women was nothing short of abysmal.

According to the Speaker “Gender equality, especially the political inclusion of women, is a critical issue worldwide, and Nigeria is no exception. Despite progress made in recent years, very significant gender disparities persist in various aspects of our society. Women and girls still face challenges in accessing education, healthcare, economic opportunities, and political representation. Discriminatory cultural norms and practices, limited access to resources and decision-making processes, as well as violence against women, contribute to these inequalities.”

While calling on the male gender to do more within their spheres of influence to enhance women’s participation in politics and governance, the Speaker said since it is men who usually shut the doors, they should make efforts at opening them.

“What this means is that men must lead the drive for women’s inclusion in governance; after all, it is men who shut the door. They have to open it and allow the women to enter. This is the import of the growing awareness across the globe of the need for men to lead the charge for the expansion of the governance, political and development space for the greater accommodation of women.”