Hajia Zainab Abubakar Ibrahim, the deputy national women leader of the All Progressives Congress, has renewed her push for reserved legislative seats for women in Nigeria to combat their marginalization in politics. She made the call ahead of upcoming National Assembly votes on constitutional amendments. Ibrahim highlighted the low representation of women in current legislative bodies.
Hajia Zainab Abubakar Ibrahim, recently elected as the first female Deputy National Chairman of the Inter-Party Advisory Council on December 8, 2024, spoke to reporters on Monday about the urgent need for reserved seats for women in Nigeria's legislature. The election, overseen by the Independent National Electoral Commission, introduced a gender-balancing 'twinning' system in the council.
As the Deputy National Women Leader of the All Progressives Congress, Ibrahim criticized the structural barriers preventing women from participating in political decision-making. She noted that women occupy just four of 109 Senate seats and 17 of 360 House of Representatives seats. Additionally, 13 states lack any female representation in their Houses of Assembly.
'The situation is unacceptable in a modern democracy,' she stated, emphasizing that politics relies on numbers and without representation, women's voices remain unheard.
Ibrahim proposed amending the constitution to reserve one Senate seat and one House of Representatives seat per state for female candidates. This, she argued, would enable women to shape policies on social welfare, education, and community development, fostering inclusive governance and national progress.
The Taraba native warned that ignoring this issue perpetuates a skewed democracy and hinders development. She plans to leverage her IPAC role to advocate for electoral integrity and press political parties and lawmakers to support the initiative, viewing it as essential for justice and equity.
