“Women, PWDs May Get Special Seats In National, State Assemblies As Tinubu Prepares Executive Bills” — Abbas

Says Proposals Coming Within Weeks.

Speaker of the House of Representatives, Tajudeen Abbas, has disclosed that President Bola Tinubu has agreed to transmit executive bills seeking the creation of additional legislative seats for women and persons with disabilities at the federal and state levels.

Abbas said the proposed seats would be separate from the existing constituencies contested during general elections and were intended to improve the representation of groups that have historically remained underrepresented in Nigeria’s legislatures.

The Speaker made the disclosure in Abuja while receiving the President and Chief Executive Officer of the Global Alliance for Public Relations and Communication Management, Professor Justin Green.

Green was accompanied by the President and Chairman of the Nigerian Institute of Public Relations, Dr Ike Neliaku; the institute’s Secretary to Council, Professor Emmanuel Dandaura; council member Moji Makanjuola; and the Secretary-General of the African Public Relations Association, Dr Omoniyi Ibietan, among others.

Abbas said the initiative formed part of measures introduced by the 10th National Assembly to make Nigeria’s legislative institutions more inclusive.

According to him, the leadership of the National Assembly approached the President over the need for an executive bill creating special seats for women, and Tinubu accepted the proposal.

“We have persuaded Mr President, and he has accepted, for the very first time, to sponsor executive bills through our effort to the National Assembly to provide special seats for women. And that will be independent of the regular seats that are being contested,” Abbas said.

The Speaker explained that the women’s reserved-seats proposal had been forwarded to the Federal Ministry of Justice for further review and refinement before its transmission to the National Assembly.

“So it is coming any time now because it is a request that he has taken to the Ministry of Justice to fine-tune and represent,” he added.

Abbas further disclosed that a similar initiative was being pursued to guarantee legislative representation for persons with disabilities in the National Assembly and State Houses of Assembly.

He said the proposed executive bill for PWD representation was expected to reach the legislature within the coming weeks.

“We also initiated and facilitated, through Mr President, for the very first time, the inclusion of representation of the physically challenged in the National Assembly and the states of our nation.

“We are hoping that within the next few weeks, Mr President will also bring an executive bill that will enable persons with disabilities to have a say in both the national and subnational levels of our parliament,” the Speaker stated.

The proposed Reserved Seats for Women Bill is intended to create additional legislative positions exclusively for female candidates without preventing women from contesting any of the existing elective seats.

The version of the proposal widely promoted by its advocates seeks 37 additional seats in the Senate and 37 in the House of Representatives—one representing each state and the Federal Capital Territory in both chambers.

It also proposes three additional seats in each of the 36 State Houses of Assembly, with one woman representing each senatorial district.

The special arrangement is proposed to operate for four general-election cycles, amounting to 16 years, before being reviewed.

Nigeria’s 10th National Assembly currently has only four women in the Senate and 16 in the House of Representatives, illustrating the country’s persistently low level of female representation in elective office.

A separate proposal, identified as HB 1931, seeks constitutional alterations to create special seats for persons with disabilities in the Senate, House of Representatives, State Houses of Assembly and local government legislative councils.

Under the PWD proposal, the Senate and House of Representatives would each have one additional member representing persons with disabilities from each of Nigeria’s six geopolitical zones. The proposal is already documented in legislative records but has yet to complete the constitutional amendment process.

Abbas also spoke about the working relationship between the two chambers of the National Assembly, saying the Senate and House of Representatives had collaborated on matters of national importance while maintaining their institutional independence.

“The National Assembly, as you know, operates as a bicameral legislature where we have the Senate, on the one hand, and the House of Representatives, on the other. We are proud that the relationship between the two chambers has been very good.

“We operate seamlessly and collaborate on every matter of national importance that is brought before us. And the journey has been a very successful one. We operate independently but only collaborate where necessary,” he said.

The Speaker also highlighted the National Assembly Open Week, which allows members of the public to examine legislative activities, interact with lawmakers and committees, and provide feedback on bills, motions and other parliamentary proceedings.

Abbas described Nigeria’s hosting of the World Public Relations Forum as an opportunity to present the country to participants expected from 126 countries and assured the NIPR and Global Alliance delegation of the National Assembly’s support.

Responding, Green commended Abbas and the National Assembly leadership for promoting legislative inclusion for women, young people and persons with disabilities.

The proposed executive bills will still have to undergo the constitutionally prescribed legislative process after their formal transmission to the National Assembly.

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