Court orders FG to implement 35% gender affirmative action

A Federal High Court in Abuja has ordered the federal government to comply with the 35 per cent affirmative action.

Justice Donatus Okorowo after dismissing the preliminary objection challenging the locus of the plaintiffs yesterday held that the National Gender Policy was meant to be implemented for gender balance.

• SDP governorship candidate, Oni, escapes attack in Ekiti
• Imo speaker declares lawmaker’s seat vacant for defecting to PDP

“Dismantling barriers to women’s participation in public spheres has been achieved through progressive interpretation of municipal laws and international obligations and treaties,” the judge ruled.

The action was brought by Funmi Falana on behalf of the Incorporated Trustees of Nigerian Women Trust Fund, Women Empowerment Legal Aid, and Centre for Democracy and Development West Africa, Women Advocates Research and Documentation Centre, Vision Spring Initiative, and Women in Politics Forum, among others.

They had, among other reliefs, sought an order to ensuring the 35 per cent affirmative action policy of the Federal Government of Nigeria as contained in Sections 42, 147 (3) and 14 (3) of the 1999 Constitution as amended, the National Gender Policy, 2006, in the governance of the country, among others.