The Policy and Legal Advocacy Centre (PLAC) has expressed dissatisfaction over the low level of women representation in government, both at the state and national level.

PLAC Executive Director, Clement Nwankwo, who made this observation in Abuja during a media parley between the House Committee on Constitution Review and members of the Nigeria Guild of Editors (NGE), tagged Nigeria as worst in record of women representation on the African continent.

According to Nwankwo, most legislators also compound the situation in the guise of cultural beliefs and religion, lamenting that Nigeria is losing votes on the global stage due to low representation of women.

“As we speak, there are only 14 women or 15 women in the House of Representatives. Out of a total of 360, there are six. In fact, there are entire geopolitical zones that do not have a woman, perhaps one woman in the North East.

“But beyond that, not a lot of women are represented at the administrative level. And what we have seen is that Nigerian legislators travel abroad.

“They attend the IPU and other parliamentary meetings, and when it comes to discussing gender issues, the men go into the room to discuss gender issues.

“Nigeria has suffered the problem now that its votes in these bodies are being reduced because it doesn’t have women enough to compare with other countries.

“So when Nigeria goes, if it has 22 votes, those votes are reduced because the Nigerian state is being punished because it doesn’t have enough women.

“Some say to you, ‘Oh, you want my wife to leave the house instead of taking care of the children to come and be doing politics? We oppose it.’

“Unfortunately, there are people, even within the legislature, who do not see this as a very critical issue, and some of them, because of their own position, hinge this on culture.

“Some say, ‘Oh, my religion says that a woman cannot preside over me.’ There are countries that are not as developed as Nigeria that have dealt with these issues.

“And if you look at the African continent, I think Nigeria has the worst record. Even Uganda, that went through a war — perhaps that war accounts for why they have huge representation.

“Uganda, Rwanda, Senegal didn’t go through a war, but Senegal is a model in the continent. Tanzania has a woman who is the speaker of the Tanzanian parliament, but also the Speaker of the International Parliamentary Union.

“So the plea and the reason for this convening, amongst understanding several of the issues in the consumer alteration bills, is also to understand the issue regarding why we have to deal with the inequity of our democracy of not having women represented.

“There are states where the chairman or chairperson of the Committee on Women is a man, just like you have had a situation where previously — and I think it is still the case — the chairman of the Committee on Youths is a man in their 60s or 70s.

“So for a lot of us, it is an embarrassing situation. And the National Assembly, the House of Representatives, has shown great determination to deal with this issue, and the plea is for the media to understand this.”

On his part, Head of the European Union (EU) Delegation to Nigeria and the ECOWAS, Gautier Mignot, who regretted that Nigeria was lagging behind in terms of women representation, noted that Nigeria was supposed to be leading and serving as a model and as an example for others in Africa and around the world.

His words: “When I arrived here in Nigeria last September, it really surprised me to see that Nigeria is really lagging behind.

“But look at countries like Rwanda or Kenya in Africa. Look at Mexico, which was a country I was posted in before, which has perfect equality in women and men representation in politics.

“And I believe that Nigeria’s vocation is not to lag behind. Nigeria’s vocation is to lead and serve as a model and as an example for others in Africa and around the world.”