The House of Representatives yesterday called on President Muhammadu Buhari to appoint more women into political offices to compensate for the gender imbalance in the National Assembly and recently released ministerial nominees. The call was the outcome of a motion to that effect by Omowumi Ogunlola (APC, Ogun) who said the noticeable shortfall of women political office holders in Nigeria could be corrected if Buhari appointed more women as heads of Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs).
The lawmaker argued that women were equal partners in political and socio-economic development of any nation, hence Nigeria could not be an exception.
“Nigeria is blessed with women of high academic stature some of whom have leadership qualities and exalted positions with high responsibilities, both in Nigeria and at international organizations,” she said. “Out of the 469 members of the National Assembly, only 19 are women with 12 of them in the House of Representatives while 7 are in the Senate, which is just 4.1 per cent, and far from international best practices,” the female lawmaker contended. She added that the development does not abide with the Resolution at the 1995 Beijing Women Conference, where it was decided that women should be recognized and given at least 35 per cent responsible positions in governments.
Dailytrust
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