Under the auspices of Women in Parliament, female lawmakers in the 9th National Assembly on Monday urged Bola Tinubu, the president-elect, to uphold Nigeria’s National Gender Policy by giving women the opportunity to hold 35% of public sector jobs.
They claimed that anything less than 35% wouldn’t be acceptable.
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The WIP members said Tinubu should uphold the law and mainstream women in elective positions during a news conference held in conjunction with the Nigerian Women Trust Fund.
Despite the nation’s adoption of the National Gender Policy and other international instruments, women continue to be underrepresented in politics and decision-making processes, according to NWTF Chief Executive Officer Mufuliat Fijabi.
She emphasised, however, that the incoming Bola Tinubu administration has the chance to alter this narrative and ensure that there are more women in positions of power.
For her part, Taiwo Oluga, the leader of WIP and chairman of the House of Representatives Committee on Women in Parliament, who represents Osun State’s Ayedaade/Irewole/Isokan federal constituency, emphasised the significance of gender mainstreaming in governance. She noted that since women make up more than 50% of the population, it is impossible to overstate their contributions to fostering a strong nation.
Oluga said;
We have competent women who can occupy appointive offices across the board and contribute to delivering the dividends of democracy to the people. It is, therefore, imperative that the incoming administration mainstreams women in appointive offices as prescribed in the National Gender Policy and other international instruments. We cannot accept anything less than 35 per cent.”
