Metro

Nigerian women activists issue 7-day ultimatum to lawmakers over rejected gender bills

Published

2 years ago

March 24, 2022

A coalition of Nigerian women activist groups, Womanifesto, has given federal lawmakers a seven-day ultimatum to consider urgently “re-convening, reconsideration, and immediately passing an all-women/gender-related bills by the National Assembly.”

The women group which has been staging a daily protest at the National Assembly in the past 10 days to register their anger over the recent rejection of all gender bills by the Assembly, said if at the expiration of the ultimatum, the legislators still refuse to revisit the bills, they would have no option but to completely occupy the Assembly.

Over the years, Nigerian women, led by Senator Abiodun Olujimi, have continuously clamouerd for more inclusiveness in politics and governance, and recently, have been making demands for the immediate passage of an all women/gender-related bills, including a bill giving women more seats in the State Houses of Assembly and the National Assembly, the Senate and the House of Representatives.

But sadly, the Bill was rejected by the Senate in December of 2021, leading the Senator to with draw it with a vow to represented a reworked version at a later date.

They are also seeking the passage of the Gender and Equal Opportunities (GEOB) Bill, currently before the Senate, and the resuscitation and passage of a bill in support for “Women Participation in Elective and Appointive.”

The women also called for the immediate Domestication of the African Charters Protocol on the Rights of Women in Africa,” which Nigeria ratified in 2004, the immediate domestication of the UN Convention on Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), ratified by Nigeria since 1985 and demanded to know the voting pattern on sensitive matters of citizen rights.

According to a 2019 report by a research outfit, Brookings, South Africa is the highest ranked African country when it comes to gender equality while Niger Republic ranks the lowest.

The report had also recommended that by 2025, other parts of Africa required an additional $316 billion to its GDP if every country is to improve its gender equality score to match the best performing country on each indicator.

In a statement at a press conference by one of the Coordinators of the protest, Dr Abiola Akiyode-Afolabi, the women coalition said:

“We acknowledge the efforts of Nigerian Women in occupying the National Assembly for ten days, the tenacity which they have demonstrated has shown that women can no longer be taken for a ride, and that we have decided to affirm our status as full citizens in this country and that our future cannot just be determined by few people who see us as lesser human beings.

“Our ten days’ occupation is a testament to our strength and our resilience; it is the emergence of a national movement.

“We can categorically say that the events in the last few weeks have played an important role in spotlighting these demands and demonstrated women’s optimism, motivation and resilience in leading positive changes through their dogged insistence.

“We also urge all Nigerians, especially its women, not to give up hope as we shall continue to apply pressure to persuade the NASS to act responsibly. We will continue to engage the media and state assemblies to vote in favour of the gender bill.

“While we await NASS to live up to its billing by reversing itself, we urge all citizens who want to see change to prepare to continue to stand against every form of injustice and contribute to the emergence of laws that will address the fundamental issues affecting all citizens.”

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Metro

Nigeria set to begin passport automation

Published

55 mins ago

November 29, 2023

Ifeoluwa Dada

Nigeria’s Minister of Interior, Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, has announced that the automation of the country’s passport application is in its final stages.

In an interview, the minister stated that the automated application was 99% complete and would go live in a week, adding that Nigerians would only need to visit immigration centres to complete their fingerprint biometrics for passports after that point.

Ojo went on to say that Nigerians can upload their passport photos and other supporting documents using the new system from the comfort of their homes.

The minister said: “We gave a date — December 2023. We are 99 per cent done. In fact, we have done the testing and we should be going live in the next week or thereabouts.

“This will ensure that what Nigerians need to do at an immigration centre is just fingerprint biometrics.

“Everything regarding pre-biometrics will be done in the comfort of your homes, including uploading passport photographs and supporting documents.

“They went live about two weeks ago but I saw some errors when they came to do the presentation and I said no. We were talking about balancing national security and convenience.”

Nigeria’s passport system has been characterised by racketeering, logistics failure, and poor due diligence which have frustrated many, home and abroad, in their quest to own their entitlement as Nigerian citizens.

Metro

Nigeria: Former election commission boss calls for total unbundling of electoral body, political party reforms

Published

2 hours ago

November 29, 2023

Akanimoh Etim

The immediate past Chairman of Nigeria’s electoral body, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof. Attahiru Jega, has called for the unbundling of the electoral body, and review of the process of appointment of future chairmen of the commission.

He said a total unbundling of the commission and a comprehensive review of the processes and procedures for the appointment of the Chairman and Resident Electoral Commissioners (RECs) were urgently needed.

Jega, who made the call on Tuesday at a town hall meeting in Abuja organised by the Senate and House of Representatives Committees on Electoral Matters, stressed that doing so would give the commission some form of autonomy.

Jega also called for a law prohibiting inter-party defections by politicians who took delight in jumping from one party to another, which he says has destroyed discipline and democratic ethos.

“I will recommend the unbundling of INEC because the Commission has a lot on its plate to deal with, a situation which has made it struggle to meet its core mandate,” the Professor of Political Science said.

“Some functions that INEC is currently performing should be given to another body entirely to handle if we want to make progress on our electoral journey.

“If Nigerians truly want to improve our electoral process, there is a need to proscribe cross-carpeting by political actors. The frequency with which Nigerian politicians cross-carpet has become a big source of worry.

“A candidate will be elected on Party A platform and he gets to the office and joins Party B without first resigning and relinquishing the position he or she holds in trust for the electorate. This has destroyed the essence of our democratic ethos.

“It is my humble recommendation that there should be a review of how political parties field presidential candidates. Look at the number of registered political parties in Nigeria and each fielding presidential candidates but at the end of the day, only two or three score significant votes while the majority do not receive any vote.

“If we are serious about our electoral reforms, there must be a threshold for political parties to meet before fielding candidates in presidential elections.

“The rule must be set that parties that failed to secure a certain amount of votes would not be allowed to present presidential candidates. There must be sanity in the polity and we must get it right.

“It is not only a huge waste of human and material resources, it’s absurd to have parties that cannot win a seat in the local council to field presidential candidates in a general election. The Electoral Act and INEC guidelines should be reviewed”, Jega added.