Politics
Women In Politics: Removing All The Barriers
This is a paper presented by Deborah Effiong at a workshop for “Women in Politics” in Port Harcourt, the Rivers State capital.
Women’s participation in politics has been identified as a key strategy to accelerate development and empowerment in any country or region. It is therefore not a surprise that the last decade has witnessed various attempts by different countries around the world to tackle the under representation of women in politics.
Women’s participation in politics involves a wide range of actions and strategies which include voter and civic education, lobbying and negotiation skills, media engagements, violence management, leadership training, fundraising and public life skills training.
Prior to now, the role of women in politics was often that of praise- singers, fundraisers, party supporters and mobilisers. The unfavourable political terrain characterised by thuggery, money politics and entrenched patriarchial attitudes have served as a basis for discouragement of many women from participating in politics.
Party programmes and manifestos do not articulate women’s issues, rather women’s wing in political parties are crated without constitutional backing. It is expected that as the political space is getting liberalised due to sensitisation and awareness of female candidature, women’s issues will be given constitutional support by the various political parties.
Women’s political and electoral experiences from 1999 – till date
Research has shown that from 1999 till date women’s political experiences have been distressing. At all levels of Nigeria’s three tiers of government (Executive, Legislature, Judiciary) the issue of women marginalisation and discrimination have continued to persist. In many situations portfolios given to women often reflect the conservative definitions of women’s roles in society. Women are often assigned to Ministry of Women Affairs, Information, Culture/Tourism and Education, none of which can be described as very strategic ministries in terms of their level of influence within the government.
Women’s electoral experiences are nothing different and in many cases wose off. Records show that in 1999 in the South-South 2 women were elected into the Federal House and the entire South-South no woman won elections into the state Houses of assemblies.
2003 – Federal House – 5, House of Assembly (South – South) – 4
2007 – Federal House – 3, House of Assembly (South – South) – 15
The implication of these figures is that women have less than 30% of the seats going by the 1995 Beijing Declaration which states that women should occupy at least 30% elective and appointive positions.
The situation is not different at the Local Government Council elections. Feedback from female aspirants and candidates after previous elections revealed a situation where women have become victims of structural and cultural limitations. Women narrated that the politics of money and godfatherism excluded and deprived them of their fundamental human rights of voting and to be voted for.
Women also asserted that lack of adequate mechanisms to monitor electoral outcomes and protect women’s mandate formed part of the major challenges for women in securing victory at the polls.
At the level of the United Nations there is a growing women’s global activism for increased representation of women in politics. The assessment made by United Nations Development Project (UNDP) at the last Beijing +10 review it was reported that women are still greatly under represented in political positions around the world.
To participate in the political process, women need to enjoy the full exercise of their civil and political rights. The achievement of equality between men and women is an integral part of the process leading to a genuine democracy.
Recommendations
It is clear that some of the barriers which women face in connection with their participation and gender balanced representation in political and public life are due to the structure and functioning of electoral systems and political institutions, mainly political parties. It is therefore recommended that;
*There should be urgent reforms in our electoral and political institutions aimed at promoting and supporting special measures to empower women to participate in politics.
*Government should promote public campaigns with targeted messages to raise public awareness on the importance of a gender balanced representation in decision making.
* Government should ensure the domestication of CEDAW into our legal system.
* Political parties should adopt and promote a gender balance policy within the party and the party’s structures.
* Political parties should review their selection and nomination procedures in order to remove all barriers that directly or indirectly discriminate against it.
In conclusion, International instruments such as the Beijing Platform for Action, CEDAW, Optional Protocol and the National Gender Policy should be maximised and strategies to implement them such as advocacy, policy reforms, special measures and affirmative actions should be explored.
Deborah Effiong is of the Gender and Development Action (GADA), Rivers State Ministry of Women Affairs.
Deborah Effiong
On Wednesday, the House of Representatives passed, through a second reading, a bill seeking to retain immunity for the Office of the President and remove immunity from the Vice President, the Governors and the Deputy Governors.
The bill was one of the 42 considered and passed through the second reading stage during plenary presided over by the Deputy Speaker, Mr Benjamin Kalu, in Abuja.
Sponsored by Hon. Solomon Bob (Rivers PDP), the bill is seeking the amendment of Section 308 of the 1999 Constitution to guard against abuse of office and to ensure transparency in governance.
The long title of the proposed legislation read: “A Bill for an Act to alter the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999, to qualify the immunity conferred on the President, remove the immunity conferred on the Vice President, the Governors and their deputies, in order to curb corruption, eradicate impunity and enhance accountability in public office and for related matters.”
Key amendments include changes to Section 308 of the Constitution, which currently grants immunity to the president, vice president, governors, and deputy governors while in office.
The proposed bill will amend subsection 3 to ensure that immunity only applies to the President and the vice president when acting as President under Section 145 of the Constitution.
Additionally, a new subsection 4 will be introduced to make the immunity clause inapplicable if the office holder is acting in an unofficial capacity, engaging in actions beyond the powers of the office, or involved in criminal conduct.
“The bill seeks to foster transparency and strengthen the fight against corruption by making public officials more accountable for their actions, both in and out of office.”
“Section 308 of the principal Act is amended by:(a) substituting a new subsection (3) as follows: “(3) This section applies to a person holding the office of the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and the Vice President only when acting as President, in line with Section 145 of this Constitution.
Creating sub section (4) thereto as follows:”(4) The foregoing provisions of this section shall be inapplicable where the person to whom this section applies is acting in an unofficial capacity or where the conduct of the person is beyond the powers of his office or the conduct is criminal in nature.
“This Bill may be cited as the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (Alteration) Act 2024.
The bill is currently awaiting further debate and consideration by the National Assembly.
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has written to notify Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan, the senator representing Kogi Central, about the petition by constituents seeking her recall from the national assembly.
INEC said it has also received the contact details of the petitioners.
“Pursuant to section 69 of the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999, as amended, I write to notify you of the receipt of a petition from representatives of registered voters in your constituency seeking your recall from the senate.
“The notification is in line with the provisions of clause 2 (a) of the Commission’s Regulations and Guidelines for Recall 2024.
“This letter is also copied to the presiding officer of the senate and simultaneously published on the commission’s website. Thank you”, the letter read.
The letter was signed by Ruth Oriaran Anthony, secretary to the commission.
Meanwhile, in a statement issued on Wednesday, INEC said it has now received the updated contact details from representatives of petitioners seeking to recall the senator.
In the statement, Sam Olumekun, INEC’s National Commissioner and Chairman of Information and Voter Education, said a letter notifying the senator of the petition has been delivered to her official address, copied to the senate presiding officer, and published on the commission’s website.
“The next step is to scrutinise the list of signatories submitted by the petitioners to ascertain that the petition is signed by more than one half (over 50%) of the registered voters in the constituency. This will be done in the coming days.
“The outcome, which will be made public, shall determine the next step to be taken by the Commission. We once again reassure Nigerians that the process will be open and transparent”, Mr Olumekun said.
Sen. Akpoti-Uduaghan had recently accused Senate President Godswill Akpabio of sexually harassing her.
The allegation came in the wake of seating arrangement related altercation between Senator. Akpabio and the Kogi Central senator at the red chamber
She was subsequently suspended from the senate for six months for “gross misconduct” over the incident.
The constituents behind the recall move also accused her of “gross misconduct, abuse of office, and deceitful behaviour”.
The senator has denied wrongdoing and called the recall effort a “coordinated suppression” of her voice.
The House of Representatives on Wednesday passed the second reading of a bill to upgrade the Lagos State 37 Local Council Development Areas (LCDAs) to full-fledged Local Government Areas (LGAs ).
The bill, was sponsored by James Faleke, Babajimi Benson, Enitan Badru, and 19 other lawmakers.
The bill is titled “A Bill for an Act to Alter the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as amended) to Accommodate the Thirty-Seven (37) Development Area Councils of Lagos State as Full-Fledged Local Government Areas, Increasing the Total Number of Local Government Areas in the Federation to Eight Hundred and Eleven (811), and for Related Matters (HB. 1498),”
Once fully enacted, Nigeria’s total number of LGAs will rise from 774 to 811, with Lagos overtaking Kano and Katsina, which currently have 44 and 34 LGAs, respectively.
Proponents of the bill argue that granting full LGA status to the LCDAs would bring governance closer to the people. The 37 LCDAs were created by President Bola Tinubu in 2003 when he was governor of Lagos State.
However, it’s worth noting that the Lagos State House of Assembly has been working on a bill to replace the 37 LCDAs with newly designated administrative areas.