Borno group demands reserved seats for women at state, federal levels

Women in Borno State have called for the reservation of political seats for women at state and federal levels to enhance female participation in governance.

The demand was made on Thursday during a consultative meeting of women advocacy groups in Maiduguri, ahead of the North-East zonal public hearing on the review of the 1999 Constitution.

Chairperson of the Women Political Participation Working Group, Aisha Abubakar, said a bill proposing dedicated seats for women has been prepared and will be presented at the hearing.

“The bill seeks to create exclusive seats for women, enabling them to contest in a more level political environment,” she said. “Competing with men is often difficult due to political, social, and economic challenges.”

She noted that with Borno having 27 local government areas and 28 members in the State House of Assembly, additional seats could be added specifically for women. The same approach, she said, could be applied at the federal level by creating an extra senatorial seat in the state for female candidates.

Umar Dan’Assabe, Senior Programme Manager for Elections at Kimpact Development Initiative, described the bill as timely and essential for inclusive governance.

“Women make up 47.5 percent of Nigeria’s voting population but are grossly underrepresented,” he said. “There are only four female senators out of 109, that’s unacceptable.”

He explained that the bill proposes one reserved seat each for women in the Senate and House of Representatives, and three in the State House of Assembly for Borno.

Falmata Lawan, Director of Women Affairs and Gender at the Borno State Ministry of Women Affairs and Social Development, commended the initiative and reaffirmed the state government’s support for gender inclusivity.

Borno group demands reserved seats for women at state, federal levels