The ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) is optimistic that the National and State Assemblies would pass the Special Seats Bill aimed at increasing women’s political representation by creating additional, temporary legislative seats exclusively for women in the National Assembly and the state Houses of Assembly.

The Bill seeks to add 37 seats to the Senate, 74 seats to the House of Representatives, and seats to the state Houses of Assembly, all to be contested only by women.

At an interactive session with journalists at the national secretariat of the APC in Abuja, the National Deputy Women Leader of the party, Hajia Zainab Abubakar Ibrahim, explained that the APC has taken steps to address the barriers being faced by women regarding participation in decision making and the governance of the country.

Stating that the exclusion of women in governance is a global phenomenon, she explained that the party’s resolve to hand out nomination and expression of interest forms to female candidates is aimed at achieving the goal.

Acknowledging that most women had not been able to make successful bids against men due to financial barriers, she reiterated her resolve to sustain the advocacy on the need to ensure women inclusiveness and participation in the governance of the country.

The woman leader expressed optimism that the bill on seat reservation would be speedily passed into law by both the National Assembly and the state Houses of Assembly.

She said: “One of the major barriers is the financial barrier.
Women are not financially buoyant; we are not financially independent to venture into politics. We all know that it is very capitalist and highly capital intensive. That is why my party has given a zero-nomination form to every woman who wants to contest an election.

“That is a singular incentive to encourage women to go into appointive and elective positions because sometimes even if you don’t win, some appointments are given to those who contested elections.”

So, you see that one is a stepping stone; it’s a platform for women to be in the corridors of power.

“Our party also has a women’s wing advocating for women. We have undertaken a lot of advocacy visits to the National Assembly and even to the National Working Committee (NWC) of the party. We are leading in the two chambers of the National Assembly and that is why we have the majority leaders who are members of our parties.

“So, we have advocated to the NWC to work with our members in the House of Representatives and the Senate to support the Bill so that it can be speedily passed at both the National Assembly and the state Houses of Assembly. The big plus is that we have a very, very extremely gender-friendly President who, in his wisdom, allowed his wife to go into the Senate for three terms.

“So my party is behind us and is supporting the bill strongly, and by the grace of God, before Mr. President finishes his first tenure, before he gets into his second tenure, this bill is going to be passed, and Mr. President will be celebrated for that.”