First Lady Oluremi Tinubu Urges National Assembly to Fast-Track Passage of Reserved Seats Bill to End Women’s Political Exclusion

The First Lady of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Senator Oluremi Tinubu, leveraged a recent dinner engagement with members of the National Assembly (NASS) at the Presidential Villa to make a strident appeal for the swift passage of the Reserved Seats for Women Bill. The high-profile gathering served as a platform for the First Lady to underscore the critical need to correct the significant gender imbalance within the country’s political system, which currently sees women holding less than four per cent of federal legislative seats.

The core of her appeal centered on the Reserved Seats for Women Bill (HB 1349), which seeks to amend sections of the 1999 Constitution to allocate specific seats exclusively for women in both the National and State Houses of Assembly. Senator Tinubu emphasized that the move toward greater gender parity is not a matter of charity or tokenism, but a democratic imperative necessary for stable and sustainable national development.

She urged her former colleagues in the Senate and House of Representatives to show official eagerness in fast-tracking the bill, arguing that political leadership must truly reflect the nation’s diverse population. The bill, sponsored in the House by Deputy Speaker Benjamin Kalu, is designed as a temporary special measure to remedy Nigeria’s poor ranking in female political participation globally.

The First Lady’s advocacy comes at a crucial time, as the bill faces renewed scrutiny following its failure to pass in the preceding 9th Assembly, with proponents hoping this current legislative session will make history by enshrining better representation for the daughters of Nigeria.