At the zonal public hearing on the review of the 1999 constitution, the Women Political Participation Technical Working Group (WPP-TWG) advocates amendment to include gender as benchmark for Federal Character.
Prof. Joy Ezeilo, a member of WPP-TWG disclosed this on Wednesday at the Enugu Center for the South East zonal public hearing while presenting a memo on behalf of the group.
Ezeilo, Professor of Law and founder of Women Aide Collective (WACOL) explained that a review of section 14 of the constitution to include adherence to gender diversity will ensure that there was no dominance of any gender in government administration
She further described the decline in female representation in government as discomforting revealing that only 70 female candidates were successful out of the 2, 970 female candidates in 2019 election; this represents 4.71 percent of elected officials as against the 5.6 percent of elected female officials in 2015 elections.
To curb this ugly nosedive, WPP-TWG moves for the alteration of Sections 48 and 49 of the Principal Act, proposing the creation of additional ‘special seats’ for women in the Federal and State Legislative Houses.
“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.”
“Similar procedure she advocates should also be adopted in state legislature,” Ezeilo said.
Speaking at the meeting, the Enugu State Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi declared his administration’s support for amendments that will enhance the nation’s unity and prosperity in an environment where justice, fairness and equity prevail.
Declaring open the zonal public hearing, Ugwuanyi enjoined all relevant Institutions, Civil Society Organizations, Stakeholders and entire Enugu State citizenry to embrace the opportunity of the zonal public hearing and participate in the national conversation.
Representing the Deputy Senate President Obarisi Ovie Omo-Agege, the senator representing Enugu West Senatorial District in the 9th Senate of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Senator Prof. Ike Ekweremadu, disclosed,
“The Senate decided to adopt a bottom-up approach by first listening to Nigerians at the geopolitical level before the National Public Hearing because of the critical importance the Constitution Review Committee places on the subnational levels of governance in Nigeria.”
He further revealed that topical issues like Judicial and Electoral Reforms, Local Government Autonomy, and devolution of powers are prominent in the agenda to be addressed in the constitutional amendments.
“If we get those items through constitutional processes of alteration successfully then our Constitutional Democracy will be set on the right pedestal, and ultimately, Nigeria will take its pride of place among the enviable constitutional democracies in the world,” Deputy President of the Senate says.
He further reiterates, “Fellow Nigerians, distinguished ladies and gentlemen, I wish to assure you most sincerely, that the memoranda you have already submitted and those that may come forward arising from this hearing and all the deliberations and engagements that will come forth from them will be the lodestar of our work as a Committee.”
Speaking also at the event, the Speaker, Enugu State House of Assembly, Edward Ubosi on behalf of his counterparts in the zone assures the people of South East geo-political zone that the state legislature will seek their opinion before adopting the outcome of the constitutional review by the National Assembly.
Recall that the zonal public hearing is a two-day event holding simultaneously across 12 centres/state capitals, with two public hearings per geopolitical zone;
The South East public hearing holds on 26th and 27th May 2021 in Enugu for Enugu state, Ebonyi state and Anambra state under the chairmanship of Senator Ike Ekweremadu while Owerri is centre for Imo State and Abia state under the chairmanship of Senator Orji Uzor Kalu.
