Reps to pursue reserved parliamentary seats for PWDs after women’s bill — Abbas

The House of Representatives will pursue constitutional amendments to create reserved parliamentary seats for persons with disabilities after concluding work on the proposed special seats for women, Speaker Tajudeen Abbas has said.

Abbas disclosed this on Thursday in Abuja while receiving a delegation from the United Nations Development Programme, led by the UN Assistant Secretary-General and UNDP Regional Director for Africa, Ms Ahunna Eziakonwa, alongside the UNDP Resident Representative in Nigeria, Ms Elsie Attafuah.

The Speaker said the House was determined to expand political inclusion by giving persons with disabilities greater representation in elective offices.

“Let me inform you that after addressing the reserved women’s seats, our next focus, in collaboration with the UNDP, will be on people with disabilities,” Abbas said in a statement issued by his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Musa Krishi.

“These are people who have been neglected in this country—not just in Nigeria, but across Africa. We need to step up and ensure that they are given more visibility, particularly on elective positions, so that they can contribute their quota to the socio-economic development of our country and Africa,” he added.

He expressed optimism that Nigeria could set a precedent for other African countries by institutionalising reserved seats for persons with disabilities.

“What we do in Nigeria can resonate throughout Africa. We believe that if this initiative succeeds, it will open doors across the continent. Others would emulate us by creating special seats for persons with disabilities,” he said.

The Speaker also reaffirmed President Bola Tinubu’s backing for the bill seeking reserved seats for women in the National Assembly and State Houses of Assembly, which is currently before the National Assembly as part of the ongoing review of the 1999 Constitution.

According to him, both the President and the First Lady, Senator Oluremi Tinubu, have thrown their weight behind the proposal.

“I can confidently tell you that Mr President and the First Lady are 100 per cent on board on this matter,” Abbas said.

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He revealed that the presidency and the leadership of the National Assembly had recently held consultations on how to secure the support of state legislatures for the constitutional amendment.

Abbas also said lawmakers were considering an electoral college made up of elected public office holders to elect occupants of the proposed reserved seats, a measure he said would reduce the financial and logistical costs associated with conducting separate elections.

The proposed constitutional amendment seeks to address the persistent under-representation of women in Nigeria’s legislatures by creating additional seats exclusively for female lawmakers in the National Assembly and the 36 state Houses of Assembly.

Nigeria has one of the lowest levels of female representation in parliament in Africa, with women accounting for less than five per cent of members of the current National Assembly. The bill is one of the key proposals before the ongoing constitutional amendment process and requires the approval of two-thirds of the National Assembly as well as at least 24 state Houses of Assembly before it can become law.

If eventually adopted, the proposal for reserved seats for persons with disabilities would mark the first constitutional provision specifically guaranteeing political representation for PWDs in Nigeria, complementing the Discrimination Against Persons with Disabilities (Prohibition) Act, 2018, which guarantees their rights but does not provide for elective representation.

Earlier, Eziakonwa commended the Speaker for championing reforms aimed at improving women’s political participation, describing the reserved seats proposal as critical to Nigeria’s democratic development.

“I just want to commend you for your courage in standing strong around some of these tough issues for the nation. The one that is close to my heart is the proposed reserved seats for women,” she said.

She added that greater inclusion of women in leadership would strengthen governance and accelerate national development.

Attafuah also praised the Speaker’s commitment to inclusive governance, saying his leadership had advanced reforms aimed at broadening participation in Nigeria’s democratic process.