Women’s Representation in Nigeria’s National Assembly: An Assessment of their Contributions to Legislative Activities of the 8th and 9th Assemblies

Abstract

The contributions of women participation in the Nigerian National Assembly following the country’s return to democracy in 1999 has brought into new focus, questions about the factors hindering women’s political participation in the country. Twenty-three years and counting (1999 – 2022) after the transfer of power from the military regime to a civilian democratic administration, women still remain at the side-line of Nigeria’s politics, hence the need to undertake a study of women’s representation in Nigeria’s National Assembly and assessing the contribution to Legislative activities in the 8th and 9th National Assembly. This study used both the qualitative and the quantitative methods of data analysis. These included descriptive statistics analysis using frequency tables and simple percentages in analyzing and interpreting the data collected. Objective one of the study was analyzed using secondary data while objective two was analyzed using both primary and secondary data generated from the course of the study. It was found that female political representation in the 2015 and 2019 elections was negligible relative to the approximately half of the population they constitute, with 2,970 women on the electoral ballot, representing only 11.36 percent of elected candidates (NBS 2019). There were 7 Female Senators in the Senate in 2015 and 2019 elections, while in the House of Representatives in 2015 the number of women was 22 (6.8%) out of 360 members and declined to a mere 11 in 2019 (3.05%). The study also found out that despite the low representation of woman in the National Assembly, the bills sponsored by female legislators has had significant impact on the lives of all Nigerians. Women's lack of adequate participation in Legislative processes has negatively impacted promotion and enforcement of their rights. An example is the Gender and Equal Opportunity Bill which was presented at the Nigerian Senate for a second reading on 15th March, 2016 and was rejected. One could argue that one of the reasons why the Bill was not passed is because only seven of the 109 senators were women. Men's efforts, if any, to promote these rights are not sufficient, because they are not direct beneficiaries. Discrimination against women resulting in their exploitation was traced to so many militating factors from tradition – culture, to male supremacy and preference in resource generation. The 8th National Assembly consisted of only 7 females out of 109 senate seats available, 22 females out of the 360 House of representative’s seats available and also in the 9th National Assembly, there were only 7 females out of 109 Senators, 11 females out of the 360 House of Representative Members (PLAC 2019) which indicates a decline in female participation. Therefore, I recommend that in order to bring this pathetic situation to an end and/or to reduce it intensely and drastically, Political parties should create a support network for prospective aspirant by pairing them with established women politicians who will be playing key role as mentors and provide capacity building for young or aspiring female politicians as to enhance and develop them ahead of subsequent elections and also introducing quota system at all levels of government and Identifying and engaging relevant stakeholders such as Independent National Electoral Commission and political parties to ensure strict adherence to it, Lastly for women to make more contribution towards Legislative activities, women parliamentarians should attend legislative capacity trainings/ workshops programs carried out by NILDs to enable them gain vast Legislative knowledge to make more impactful contributions to the growth of the Nation.