Lagos, Nigeria – Humulikheari Taiwo Jayeola had spent four decades working on basic political mobilization when she finally received the appointment in 2024 to be the Lagos state leader for the Labor Party.
It was an unlikely victory. Although women represent almost half of the voting population in the most populous country in Africa, they represent only 4% of its legislators. There are only four women among the 109 members of the Senate. In the lower room, the House of Representatives, only 16 legislators are women, out of 360 seats.
The proposed legislation which would address the disparity between the sexes, by adding 74 additional seats exclusively for women of federal parliaments, adopted a second reading in July 2024. The next stage of the process – the public audience for the bill – is planned for this month. If made, the additional seats would bring the representation of women to 17%. (The bill also offers the creation of three special seats for women in each of the 36 assembly houses in Nigeria.)
This contrasts with an existing positive action policy which, in theory, requires that 35% of the seats of all government be filled with women. This policy, introduced in 2006, was confirmed in court as recently as in April 2022, but has not yet been implemented due to the lack of political will.
For Jayeola, the situation is untenable.
“Women can achieve a lot,” she says. “Men should let us breathe. They should give us a chance. ”
Jayeola says that she supports the policy of existing positive action.
Rt. Honorable Benjamin Kalu, vice -president of the National Assembly, presented the new bill to add seats only for women – often called the “Additional Seats” bill.
“It is justice, strategy and national prosperity,” he said during a recent public event.
Kalu was motivated to sponsor the bill because he sees what he believes to be valuable contributions from women in Nigerian society, explains Levinus Nwabughiogu, spokesperson for the Kalu office.
“The vice-president actively heads for a solution,” said Nwabughiogu.
The new option to add seats for women is not a miracle solution, according to some women.
The bill can lead to seats granted to women by the ruling party, which raises concerns concerning political puppets, explains Okikiola Taiwo-Jalusupon, which lost a race for the Lagos State House of State in 2019. In addition, she says, creating additional seats would require more office space and initiated additional expenses.
The bill on additional seats is a different approach from that of other African countries, where it is common to have a fixed percentage of existing seats reserved for women.
In Tanzania, women currently hold around 38% of all the seats in the National Assembly. In Kenya, women represent around 22% of parliamentarians. And in Rwanda, around 64% of seats in the lower room and around 54% of seats in the upper room are held by women.
Although opinions remain divided on how to ensure that women are represented, the debate around the Nigeria bill highlights a strong desire among women to move the wave of the way they are represented in politics.
The bill is a practical step towards a stronger representation for women, explains Dorothy Effiom, one of the rare women among 20 people in the running for the local post of the Progressive Congress in the Local Government region of Amuwo-Odofin, Lagos. She tastes women to seize the opportunity that the bill presents, rather than fixing her gaps.
Throughout Africa, three types of positive action are used to stimulate the representation of women in Parliament: reserved seats, quotas of compulsory candidates and voluntary party quotas. The reserved seats guarantee part of the seats for women. Legislative quotas oblige the parties to organize a minimum number of women candidates. Voluntary quotas are adopted by political parties in their own rules or platforms.
In 2024, 19 African countries used legislative quotas, 15 reserve seats, seven are based on voluntary quotas and 13 have no quota system.
Nigeria ranks within 54 African countries for the representation of women in the lower room of Parliament. In 2023, women only held 4% of the seats – the lowest on the continent. The first five are Rwanda (64%), Namibia (50%), Senegal (46%), South Africa (43%) and Mozambique (43%). In total, 1 in 4 African deputy is a woman.
But there must be more popular mobilization around the bill, because the information has not dropped ordinary people, she said. “We have not discussed it in our zonal services and meetings.”
“The bill on positive action of 35% is difficult to sell,” explains Ibijoke Faborode, founder and CEO of Electher, a non -partisan organization working to increase women’s participation in politics. “In an ideal environment, this plan would work,” she says.
“We must understand that for the greatest democracy and the greatest economy in Africa, the guards are not necessarily ready to welcome women,” she said.
The bill on additional seats offers a first step towards the vision of the broader positive action policy, explains Hamzat Lawal, CEO of Connected Development, an organization of civil society that works to empower marginalized communities. He is convinced that the bill will be approved by the president and will become law.
Lawal notes that the vice-president of the House of Representatives and other co-sponsors is men. When men and women work together as partners, he says, a significant change is possible.
“I am sure that in 2027, we will see more organization and political participation by women,” he said.