President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has been urged by stakeholders, including civil society organizations, to take decisive action to increase the presence of women in politics.
The appeal was submitted during a Women Radio 91.7 FM media conversation that commemorated the passing of two years since a landmark ruling regarding the 35% affirmative action policy.
Concerned about the low number of women appointed as ministers in the Tinubu-led administration, Amina Agbaje, the national president of the International Federation of Women Lawyers (FIDA), emphasized that women should have sufficient representation in positions of decision-making because they are crucial to elections.
Agbaje emphasized the significance of persistently promoting women’s participation in governance.
In order to uphold the 35% affirmative action policy and strengthen the voices of women in national issues, Rasheedat Medupin of the Sustainable Gender Action Initiative (SGAI) asked the government to work with civil society organizations.
Medupin emphasized how important it is that the Tinubu-led government honor the 2022 ruling by putting more women in leadership roles and enacting laws that take gender equality into account.
Additionally, Falana & Falana Chambers’ Barrister Marshal Abubakar emphasized that the government must respect the law and uphold the 2022 ruling.
Abubakar pushed for constitutional changes to increase women’s involvement in governance and urged Nigerian women to pursue legal action if the government disobeyed them.
The necessity of enforcing the judgment through legal channels was emphasized by Ngozi Nwosu-Juba of Vision Spring Initiatives, who also emphasized the value of grassroots involvement and urged women to take advantage of ongoing constitutional reforms to promote laws on gender equality.
The Nigerian Women Trust Fund’s Zainab Yahaya Tanko underlined the numerical power of women and called for unwavering work until the ruling is fully implemented.
The agreement made during the media discussion underscored how urgently the government must execute the National Gender Policy in its entirety, as required by the historic ruling on April 6, 2022, in order to strengthen women’s representation and rights.
In 2020, Nigerian civil society organizations, under the leadership of the Nigerian Women Trust Fund, filed a lawsuit against the government to force the adoption of the National Gender Policy’s 35% affirmative action clause.
With pro bono assistance from Falana and Falana Chambers, Nigerian women won a landmark legal battle on April 6, 2022, which represents a turning point in the fight for gender equality in governance.