Follow Us on Google
From Juliana Taiwo-Obalonye, Abuja
Governors of the 36 states under the auspices of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF), in a late-night session that ended in the early hours of yesterday have underscored the critical importance of the Reserved Seats for Women Bill (HB 1349).
They urged all stakeholders to rally behind the legislative effort aimed at enhancing gender representation in the country’s political landscape.
The communiqué, issued at the conclusion of the fifth meeting of the NGF, was signed by the forum’s chairman and governor of Kwara State, AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq, and read by Lagos State governor, Babajide Sanwoolu, surrounded by his colleagues.
The bill, scheduled for voting between November 4 and 6, 2025, seeks to amend the 1999 Constitution. The bill proposes the creation of special constituencies exclusively contested by women in both the National and State Assemblies as a temporary measure to bolster women’s participation in governance.
They emphasised the significance of the bill in promoting equity and inclusion in governance, urging fellow governors to actively engage legislators at all levels to ensure the bill’s passage.
“Governors were urged to engage their senators, members of the House of Representatives, and state assemblies to support the bill’s passage and affirm Nigeria’s commitment to equity and inclusive governance,” the communique stated.
The Reserved Seats Bill plans to create additional seats that women would exclusively contest, without affecting the existing constituencies. The initiative is meant to be a temporary but impactful intervention to address the gender gap that currently sees women occupying less than five per cent of legislative seats nationwide.
The meeting also featured presentations on economic stabilisation by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and security updates from the Department of State Services.
On economic stabilisation, the forum received presentation of the governor of the CBN, Yemi Cardoso, who was represented by the Deputy Governor (Economic Policy), Muhammad Abdullahi, who provided insights into on-going efforts to restore price stability and bolster economic confidence through tightened monetary policies, unified exchange rate windows, and bank recapitalisation.
