Akin Alabi Backs Extra Parliamentary Seats for Women in Constitution Review

The lawmaker representing Ona-Ara/Egbeda Federal Constituency and Chairman of the House Committee on Works, Hon. Akin Alabi, has thrown his weight behind a constitutional amendment that seeks to increase the number of women in Nigeria’s National Assembly.

Speaking at an event in Ibadan themed “Seeds of Change: Women, Agriculture and the Politics of Progress,” Alabi decried the low representation of women in both the House of Representatives and the Senate.

“We must first acknowledge that there is a problem,” he said. “There are very few women in both chambers of the National Assembly and in other key positions.”

Alabi announced his support for an ongoing constitutional amendment that proposes one additional seat for women per state in both chambers an initiative that could see 36 new seats for women in the House of Representatives and another 36 in the Senate.

“I’m willing to back that proposal when we get to the Third Reading, when we need to vote on the floor of the House,” he affirmed.

The event was convened by Farmer Omolara K. Svensson, National Coordinator and President of Nigerian Women for Agricultural Development.