North Elders Forum spokesman, Baba-Ahmed slams National Assembly for rejecting gender bills

The Spokesman of the Northern Elders Forum (NEF), Hakeem Baba-Ahmed, on Wednesday faulted the National Assembly for rejecting gender bills in the constitutional amendment process.

The National Assembly had on Tuesday voted against bills that sought to offer women more leadership and governance opportunities.

The development forced some women to protest at the National Assembly.

Baba-Ahmed, who featured in a Channels Television programme, Politics Today, said the lawmakers had waged a war against women in Nigeria for rejecting the bills.

He said: “There were some key clauses that would have added substantially in terms of improving the quality of the constitution and the leadership selection.

“One of them, tragically, was the rejection of setting aside 35 percent of the elective positions for women. This is not for a country like Nigeria. The level of underrepresentation of women in key positions and decision making is tragic.

Read also: Women block National Assembly in protest against bill, call lawmakers on phone

“It is really tragic. We have reduced women only to the role of the voters, basically. The political system has reduced everybody else, except the people that we elect, as spectators who are only relevant for the purposes of election. After that, the people we elect run away with power and do what they want with it.

“I was particularly saddened by the rejection. Every gender-based amendment was rejected. It was as if we had a legislature that was waging war against women.

“You have an extremely self-centered set of legislators. There are people who think any concession made to a critical group like women is power they lose. They read themselves into all these amendments rather than the interest of the public.”

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