A political group, Women Political Participation Technical Working Group (WPP-TWG) has advocated the amendment of Nigeria’s 1999 Constitution to include gender as a benchmark for Federal Character.

Prof. Joy Ezeilo, a member of the group, disclosed this on Wednesday in Enugu while presenting their memo during the public hearing on the proposed alterations of the 1999 Constitution as amended.

Ezeilo said that the constitution had already created the Federal Character as an Affirmative  Action Mechanism that ensured the representation of marginalised groups in the country.

The professor of law, therefore, called for the alteration of Section 14 of the constitution by substituting subsection (3) to include adherence to gender diversity for national unity.

She said that such alteration would ensure that there was no dominance of any gender in government administration.

The university don who is also the founder of Women Aide Collective (WACOL), said that it was sad that female political representation in the 2019 general elections was negligible.

She said that of the 2, 970 female candidates during the elections, only 70 were successful, representing 4.71 per cent of elected officials.

She said that the figure was a decline from the 2015-2019 dispensation where women formed 5.6 per cent of elected officials.

Ezeilo described such situation as discomforting and called for the creation of additional ‘special seats’ for women in the Federal and State Legislative Houses.

“To achieve this, WPP-TWG will move for the alteration of Sections 48 and 49 of the Principal Act by substituting them with new sections,” she said.

She said that the aforementioned sections had to do with the composition of the Senate and and House of Representatives.

She said that such alteration would ensure the return of a woman directly elected to the Senate or the House of Representatives as would be prescribed by an Act of the National Assembly.

Ezeilo said that similar procedure would also be adopted in the election of state legislators.

“We believe that these temporary but necessary positive measures will enhance inclusive governance that we earnestly yearn for,” Ezeilo said.

Earlier, the Deputy President of the Senate, Sen. Ovie Omo-Agege, said that the zonal public hearings were deliberately arranged to precede the national hearing.

Omo-Agege, who was represented by Sen. Ike Ekweremadu, said that the move was adopted to ensure a bottom-top approach by first listening to Nigerians at the geo-political level.

“This approach underscores the critical importance the Constitution Review
Committee places on the subnational levels of governance in Nigeria.

“Surely and without a doubt, the success of the committee’s review process will be
dependent on your beneficent support and partnership,” Omo-Agege said. 

Chroniclegist reports that WPP-TWG is a partnership working group to enhance the participation of women in governance.

The group is an outcome of the Post-2019 General Election Conference held by partners to interrogate the low level of Women representation in elective positions.