Women in Politics Forum have called on political parties and lawmakers-elect to make gender a critical factor in the composition of the leadership of the 10th National Assembly.
Addressing a press conference in Abuja yesterday, Barr. Ebere Ifendu, President of the forum, said women’s representation in Nigeria’s top positions has been very low.
She also congratulated the 78 women who have been elected across Nigeria to various offices after the national and state elections.
She said, “We call on political parties with elected members in the parliament to uphold the provisions of the national gender policy and be intentionally gender inclusive when zoning principal offices in the National Assembly.”
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She said the forum was particularly interested in the leadership positions in House of Representatives, where they are high-ranking female members with some returning for the 4th time.
“It will, therefore, be completely disregarding to Nigerian women if, with the calibre and ranking of female parliamentarians in the House of Representatives, no female member ranks among the principal officers of the House of Representatives in the 10th National Assembly.”