The Reserved Seats for Women Campaign is gaining ground following the endorsement it gets from Nigeria’s First Lady, Sen. Remi Tinubu, and other critical stakeholders across the country, an official has said.
Its North-West Coordinator, Amb. Aisha Yau, said this while speaking with newsmen in Abuja on Thursday.
Yau said prominent Nigerians, including Nigeria’s First Lady, Sen. Remi Tinubu, APC National Chairman, Prof. Nentawe Yilwatda, ministers, among others, have endorsed the movement, adding that this has deepened the support base of the movement.
According to her, the massive mobilisation and door-to-door campaign being undertaken in the North-West zonal movement is yielding successes, triggering mass support for the campaign from stakeholders who were hitherto aloof.
The coordinator said the recent rally held by the Reserved Seats for Women zonal campaign in Kaduna, drew critical stakeholders from Kano, Jigawa, Kebbi, Zamfara, Sokoto, and Katsina states.
“This rally is a living testimony that the efforts we are making by going through the nooks and crannies are yielding fruition,” Yau said.
Yau, who described women as the backbone of any progressive society, said involving women in legislative processes would go a long way in resolving many challenges affecting society.
“And we are happy that people who, before now, are sitting on the fence over the matter are now fully engaged in the campaign.”
The coordinator said that after the Reserved Seats for Women North-West zonal rally in Kaduna, the door-to-door campaign continued with many engagements with high-profile stakeholders in the polity.
She said, “Recently, we had productive meetings with our APC National Party Chairman, Prof. Nentawe Yilwatda, and the National Woman Leader, Dr Mary Idele Alile.
“The engagements centred on the status of the bill on Reserved Seats for Women and the way forward. I am happy to announce that the discussions were fruitful, and we’re hopeful that they will yield favourable results soon.”
The North-West coordinator said her delegation also had “an inspiring meeting” with the Honourable Minister of State for Education, Prof. Suwaiba Sa’idu Ahmad.
According to her, our engagement focused on advancing women’s participation in governance, particularly the urgent need to strengthen women’s representation in elective positions across all levels of government.
“We discussed practical pathways to dismantle long-standing barriers and push forward the conversation around the Reserved Seats for Women Bill and broader constitutional reforms.”
“After the zonal event in Kaduna, my team didn’t relent in diversifying our strategies and deepening our engagements with relevant stakeholders to bolster participation of women in politics and ultimately get more women into the federal and 36 state parliaments.”
The Reserved Seats Bill titled, “A bill for an act to alter the provisions of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999, to provide for seat reservation for women in the National and State Houses of Assembly; and for related matters” is now pending before the National Assembly.
“It aims to alter seven sections of the 1999 Constitution, expand the Senate, House of Representatives, and all 36 state assemblies.
“And mandate the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to delineate special women-only constituencies for four election cycles (16 years) before review.
