EU endorses bill seeking more legislative seats for Nigerian women

The European Union (EU) has formally backed the Reserved Seats for Women Bill, lending international weight to ongoing advocacy for increased female representation in Nigeria’s legislature.

The proposed bill, now approaching its third reading in the National Assembly, aims to establish 37 additional seats in the Senate and House of Representatives, as well as three reserved legislative seats for Nigerian women in every state assembly. If passed, it will then proceed to the state assemblies before being presented to the president for assent.

Nigeria currently records some of the lowest figures for female parliamentary participation worldwide, with women occupying just 3.7 per cent of Senate seats and 3.9 per cent in the House of Representatives.

Speaking at the 2025 GOTNI National Leadership Conference in Abuja, EU Ambassador to Nigeria and ECOWAS, Gautier Mignot, commended the bill as a step toward gender balance in governance. He urged lawmakers to prioritise its passage, stressing that inclusive politics fosters national growth.

He said, “One of the secrets for a nation that will be more successful in its development is to empower women and girls.

“The most prosperous countries in the world are those where inequalities between women and men are the least, and which grant women a full space to participate in collective decisions and in socio-economic life.

“Nowadays, there’s a very important debate ongoing in Nigeria, especially in the National Assembly, about the special seats bill, to make sure that women have more representation in the National Assembly.

“I think this is a very important bill for the country, and it deserves support from everybody.”

Also addressing newsmen after the programme, President of the GOTNI Leadership Centre, Linus Okorie, described the conference as a platform designed to build leadership competencies for individuals, businesses, and government institutions.

He emphasised that Nigeria’s leadership challenges could only be resolved by nurturing the right leaders.

He said, “There is a huge demand for leadership development in Nigeria and the only way we can make progress is for Nigeria to take the responsibility of doing everything necessary to encourage citizens to grow their capital and leadership competencies.

“What this means is that the world is not going to fix our problem.

“Our problem is going to be fixed by Nigerians. And to do that, you need selfless leaders in the private and public sector who are creative, visionary and have a sense of commitment to make a big difference for our dear country.

“The nations of the world that have made great progress are those that invest heavily in the leadership capital of their citizens. Imagine a system where there’s sustainable value generated in the marketplace. What you will have is that a lot of products and services would emerge in the Nigerian space.”

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