National Assembly: Proposes Nigeria Special Seats for Women

• The National Assembly's Constitution Review Committee has proposed 74 additional seats for women in the federal legislature.
• These new seats would comprise 37 in the Senate and 37 in the House of Representatives, ensuring each state and the FCT gains one extra seat in each chamber.
• An additional three seats are also proposed for women in each State House of Assembly, without displacing existing electoral positions.
• Senate Leader Opeyemi Bamidele announced the proposal, which aims to alter the 1999 Constitution to boost women's political participation.
• The special seats are intended to run for 16 years, covering four electoral cycles, before a comprehensive review, and require concurrence from State Houses of Assembly.

The proposed alteration to the Nigeria Constitution 1999 would allocate 37 new seats in the Senate and another 37 in the House of Representatives, ensuring that each state, including the Federal Capital Territory, would gain one additional seat in both chambers.

The National Assembly's Constitution Review Committee has put forward a significant proposal to create 74 additional seats specifically for women within Nigeria's federal legislature. This initiative aims to bolster Nigerian women political representation, which has historically been low despite women constituting nearly half of the nation's population. The proposed alteration to the Nigeria Constitution 1999 would allocate 37 new seats in the Senate and another 37 in the House of Representatives, ensuring that each state, including the Federal Capital Territory, would gain one additional seat in both chambers.

Beyond the federal level, the committee's proposal extends to state legislatures, suggesting the establishment of three extra seats for women in each State House of Assembly. Crucially, these newly proposed seats, both at the national and state levels, are designed to be supplementary, meaning they would not displace any currently existing electoral positions. Senate Leader Opeyemi Bamidele, who also serves as the vice chairman of the Senate Committee on Constitution Review, publicly announced these details at the 2026 Law Week event organized by the International Federation of Women Lawyers (FIDA) in Ekiti State, highlighting the comprehensive nature of the Nigerian women legislative seats proposal.

This comprehensive initiative to establish Nigeria special seats for women is framed as a Bill intended to alter specific provisions of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999. The core objective is to enhance women's engagement in the country's political and governance processes, addressing a long-standing disparity where women have occupied only a small fraction of legislative positions. Senator Bamidele emphasized that the rationale behind creating these additional seats is rooted in fundamental principles of constitutional law and representative democracy.

He articulated that a democratic system that systematically excludes a substantial portion of its population from decision-making processes is inherently flawed. The proposal, therefore, is not viewed as a partisan effort but rather as a "

Lawyers specializing in constitutional law, electoral reform, or gender equality advocacy should closely monitor the legislative progress of this proposed constitutional alteration, as its eventual passage would significantly reshape political representation in Nigeria and require legal analysis of its implementation and potential challenges.

Source: Original reporting via Premium Times