The House of Representatives on Tuesday, July 9, passed for the second reading a constitutional amendment bill seeking to reserve additional seats for women in the state and National Assembly.
The bill, sponsored by the Deputy Speaker of the House, Hon. Benjamin Kalu, was first passed by the 9th House but failed to get concurrence in both chambers to scale constitutional amendment as required by law.
Presenting the motion, one of the sponsors, Joshua Gana, said the bill aims to address a profound imbalance in the nation’s legislative houses in the form of the under representation of women in legislative houses at the national and sub-national levels.
According to him, the bill seeks to alter the Constitution specifically to provide for seat reservations for women in both the National and State Houses of Assembly.
