Home News IWD22: Reps backpedal, to reconsider 3 women bills

IWD22: Reps backpedal, to reconsider 3 women bills

by Our Reporter
The House of Representatives may have buckled under pressure from women across the country, rescinding its resolution on three gender bills it earlier threw out during voting on 68 clauses of the Electoral Act Amendment Bill.
The House took the decision after an executive session, yesterday.

The decision came as women again stormed the National Assembly, yesterday, in protest against the rejection of the bills in the two chambers of the National Assembly.

Women from all walks of life had been protesting against the rejection of the bills, asking the National Assembly to reconsider the bills, which they argued would give women a leverage in the political development of the country.

This is even as wives of the 36 state governors, yesterday, vowed to occupy the National Assembly to express their disdain and disappointment over the rejection of women-related bills.

It will be recalled that the bills failed to fly last week during voting on 68 amended clauses in the 1999 constitutional amendments.

The bills to be reconsidered are Indigeneship Bill, Citizenship Bill and the 35 per cent affirmative action on Political Parties’ bill.
The speaker, Femi Gbajabiamila, who announced the decision of the House, said the bills would come up for voting in four weeks.
He said: “That action is to rescind three of the decisions that were taken on that day (March 1). In the next four weeks, they will come up for voting.”

Gbajabiamila said in a situation where there was a difference in the voting results, he would rely on the constitution to rule on the harmonisation since the constitution allowed the House to regulate itself.

“Let me just quickly touch on the clause. If we at that point have a difference, we will go for harmonisation. The constitution section allows the House to regulate its procedures. I will rely on the Constitution to harmonize,” he said.

He called the chairman, House Committee on Rules and Business, Abubarkar Fulata, to move that the decision of the House be rescinded.

Fulata later moved the motion and it was seconded by the deputy minority leader of the House, Toby Okechukwu.

The voice vote called by the speaker on the development did not witness any dissensions.

Meanwhile, scores of women groups, yesterday, continued their protest at the main gate of the National Assembly, blocking many people from accessing the complex.
They had vowed not to leave the scene until the bills were reconsidered.

The women, under the aegis of Nigerian Women Groups, had last week protested against the action of the lawmakers and promised to return if the decision was not reversed.

They made good their promise as they returned in larger numbers yesterday, promising to continue the protest until the lawmakers bowed to their demands.

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